The Outcast and the Sword of Determination
by Stardustdragon123
Summary: *Contains spoilers to Ride 35 of Stand Up, the LRIG! and also a side-story/sort-of-prequel* Stranded on a world far from home, the true Urazoe Iona after a deadly encounter finds herself in the company of the Shadow Paladins. Will a certain black swordsman help her to overcome her inner burden? *Currently on hiatus until later notice*
1. Open 1: A Strange New World

**Hello everyone and welcome to my side story to Stand Up, the LRIG! Now much like the main story I'm writing, the time of setting is around the same as established in that fic, but it begins around two weeks prior to Kai's arrival in the world of Wixoss. One thing I will want readers who haven't read Stand Up, the LRIG! or watched Selector Spread Wixoss at least up to Episode 10 to take into account that there will be major spoilers as this fic goes on. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the first of many chapters to come into this side story.**

* * *

The Planet Cray. A rather strange and fascinating location to say the least to people across the vast universe who had some basic knowledge of it beforehand. Certain others would say that it would be home to the wonders of science and sorcery, especially given the divide of the two subjects amongst a large number of its denizens. Who those were would be the first thing to come to mind of the inhabitants of one particular Planet Earth, given the representation of Cray and said denizens through the popular game known to players across that world as Cardfight! Vanguard. As proven to one person who had his life changed forever by that game and a few other players, the Planet Cray itself is more than just simple backbone lore to Cardfight! Vanguard.

Many battles waged on the surface of the planet have had an impact on that Earth in particular, including the battle between the Royal Paladins and the Shadow Paladins and the Invasion War when Link Joker attempted to conquer Cray and all of its denizens in the name of the Void. To those who would ask about this strange presence would know very little. Most would reply that it was simply a dark enemy who as of yet had no physical presence of its own with Link Joker as its avatar, before certain event which had involved the manipulation of two timelines resulted in a majority of its forces being accepted as a clan by Cray itself. Whilst those accepted by the Star Gate nation were no longer a hostile threat to an extent, the remaining Star-vaders had disappeared into obscurity, making certain individuals uncertain as to when they would strike next and how.

But even after those many battles and their aftermaths had eventually passed over, no one could imagine what would happen next. An event that would occur within one of the six nations of Cray, the United Sanctuary to be exact, would eventually place the planet, the Earth that was already well acqainted with it via the game it was represented through and one other world in the middle of a conflict that would decide that fate of not just those three worlds, but possibly the whole universe.

Even now with this great amount of knowledge did a certain individual overlooking one of the vast expanses of Cray take into account as if he was searching for something. The figure was mostly clad in white armor with several green lines running across and several gems of that colour littered across the front of his armored robe and the front of his white hat. He knew not of how exactly this event would affect the future of the planet, but he was certain that whatever had arrived at this very moment could be the factor that would determine the fates of all Cray and wherever it came from.

* * *

A loud noise was heard throughout one of the many rocky plains that was usually commonplace in the divides between the nations of the Planet Cray. This one was the source of a loud explosion that shook the ground, with several streaks of dark energy seeping out of the large dust cloud that was formed from the blast. Emerging from the dust cloud was a human like figure, panting heavily as she ran away from the source of the explosion as fast as she possibly could. Her clothing seemed to resemble nothing more than black coloured tights that went up as far as just beneath her neck and she also wore two black gloves that went up the lower halves of her arms.

Her clothing had been covered in scratches and small patches had been torn off, most likely from the impact of the explosion that she came out unscathed from and maybe some other near misses of that kind. She had brown eyes and straight jet black hair, as if it was to compliment with the colour of her outfit for some strange reason, though she alone had already known that reason. Hearing a loud roar suddenly sound out from the dust cloud behind her, the girl knew that her pursuer was not far behind her and that she was already running out of stamina to keep ahead of it. 'It' was a perfect description to describe the being that was chasing her across the surface of Cray, right towards a certain portion of the nation that she was in to be exact.

A large shadow rose out of the dust cloud that had now mostly disappeared and took flight into the air above her. From what she had seen earlier before she had now found herself in the situation she was in, the Planet Cray, unbeknowst to her, was definitely not the place that she was usually acqainted with. That she already knew from the vision of various moons and planets seen in the distance from Cray's blue skyline amongst the few clouds that were there. The girl's pursuer appeared to be a large black dragon with shades of very dark purple and various bits of gold littered on its nails, legs, body, the spikes on its long tail, various parts of the head including the front of its upper jaw and the edges of its wings. There were several red lines etched into the dragon's body, resembling patterns of some sort that couldn't quite remain complete as some of the patterns' ends were essentially 'leaking' off in streams of small red energy.

The winged creature stared down at its prey from the air with its sharp dark green eyes before unleashing another loud roar that caused several small winged creatures observing the chaos from a nearby outcrop to flee in panic, not wanting to incur this dragon's wrath upon them. The girl could only glance for a brief moment as she saw the dragon's gaze had been brought upon her once again. Looking out in front of her, she turned her attention towards a large structure that she could see that wasn't too far from where she currently was. Before she had been chased, she ventured out towards it in search of life from where she had found herself and needless to say, that was when her tall, dark and gruesome pursuer had decided to attack her.

She had no idea to say the least why she had somehow incurred the wrath of this dragon that was now trying to get at her, but all she knew was that the sooner that she could make it to that structure, now seemingly appearing to be more like a fortress the closer that she was getting towards it, the sooner that she could possibly find help in driving off the beast or hopefully hide out there long enough for her to lose it. That thought was brought to a brief halt as the girl instinctively leaped forwards just in time to avoid being hit point blank by a large dark blue fireball from the dragon pursuing her, some small dirt and debris hitting the back of her outfit from the blast being that close to hitting her.

* * *

Needless to say, if the girl had already guessed that said structure was some kind of fortress from the start, she would have already been correct. Deep within one of the rooms within the interior lay a large throne of some sorts. It wasn't exactly regal or grand as 'another one' to say the least, but to the elf that was currently sat on it with his eyes closed felt that it suited the atmosphere around him and the 'others' well, considering who they were and what a majority of them once were. He was mostly drabed in black armor with several blue gems embedded, including the single head piece that he wore within his murky silverish hair and slightly hung up on his back was what appeared to be some red fabric that had been furled up so that it wouldn't get crinkled from sitting on it.

"You really need to stop falling asleep more often, Mordred."

The elf, now addressed by that name, opened his red eyes without so much effort as some would have expected. He could see in front of him the person that had spoken out to him. He was also clad in black armor and had that same red coloured fabric hanging down his back, almost like a cape. Etched into both his armour and the large blade that he carried were several neon-like turqiose colored lines and some dark red gems embedded into the sword near the front of the hilt, the chest armour and the top front of the helmet. His dark green eyes were directed towards Mordred, his gaze expressing a serious manner much like the tone that he had spoken out in.

"Indeed," the elf replied "It would appear that has become a rather unfortunate habit of mine, Junos."

The black swordsman's expression seemed to grow what appeared to be a hint of annoyance, but a closer glance could tell that he felt somewhat pained from being addressed this way, as if he didn't like being called by that name.

"I understand how you feel," Mordred spoke, bringing the swordsman's attention back down to Earth, or as the saying would go, back down to Cray in that regard. "What we did in the past with the Royal Paladins has long been behind us. Your real name should not bear any issue in that regard anymore."

"Yet, you don't feel this way, even if a part of you was a part of the monster that originally founded our clan?"

The elf sighed heavily. Although this topic had not been a common recurrence in previous conversations that the two of them had, it was one that even he felt that the swordsman was being overly concerned about from his perspective. He rose up from the throne upon which he sat, allowing the red fabric on his back to unfurl, revealing it to be a cape much like the one that the swordsman had down his back.

"Junos... or rather, Blaster Dark as you prefer," he spoke "I understand the burden that we, the Shadow Paladins, have all felt since the end of our struggle against Royal Paladin. As you have already pointed out, I am aware that part of me belongs to the evil that was once called Phantom Blaster Dragon. However, that part was the light that once existed within that dragon before it became the tyrant we were all aware of and that malice does not exist within any portion of my power or veins. Even before most of us originally joined the clan, we all had one thing in common. We were merely outcasts, thieves and bandits as the rest of the United Sanctuary had percieved us and rightly so at that time. Your story as to how you came into Shadow Paladin is different than the others, since direct manipulation from Phantom Blaster itself was involved in that 'incident'."

The swordsman, who had now been prefered to have been referred as 'Blaster Dark' said nothing in response, still recounting the days that he spent as a Royal Paladin himself before ambition and enviness along with outside manipulation had resulted into him joining the clan that he remained a part of to this day. Truth be told, the swordsman wasn't proud of the things he had done in the past and after spending enough time around the people and beings that he would eventually to this day still regard as comrades, he could see that a majority of them much like himself felt the same way after the war between them and the Royal Paladins ended with the 'Swordsman of Light' bringing down the monstrousity known as Phantom Blaster Overlord.

Since the fall of the tyrant that had founded the Shadow Paladins, a few who had joined the clan out of similar methods that were like those done to Blaster Dark by the dragon itself had gone back to their Royal Paladin allies, now free of the darkness that had plagued them through the negative energies of the weapons that they carried. Blaster Dark however, feeling that it was his responsibility as one of the higher ups of the Shadow Paladins at that time decided it was his duty to help reform the clan after everything that happened to them throughout that conflict. It took a long while for the rest of the United Sanctuary to have assurance that they would no longer be a hostile threat, but eventually by the time that the Revengers had been formed after the events of 'another' conflict, the other clans of that nation were somewhat at ease with the idea that they would defend the Sanctuary, from deep within the shadows.

"Dark-san!"

Blaster Dark then turned his attention towards a female voice that had sounded out from the doorway to the throne room, interrupting both his inner thoughts and his conversation with the leader of the Revengers. Mordred simply looked over towards the person that had called out towards the 'Sword of Determination'. She had murky brownish red hair, was clad in black armor whilst holding a sword with an azure shine to it and much like the other Revengers wore the traditional dark red cape that they had always worn since the day that Blaster Dark himself had established the group.

"It's here again!" she called "That beast's driving what appears to be a civilian towards the gates of our fortress!"

"I see Tartu," the black swordsman replied "Mobilize the troops with Mordred. I'll head to the walls above the front gates to intercept it."

"Understood!"

Blaster Dark nodded in response and ran out through the doors, heading through the corridors towards the walls of the fortress to intercept whatever threat was chasing this 'civilian' towards their gates. The fact that Tartu had addressed the beast to be 'it' in particular again had him feeling very uneasy, as if he had known about this particular threat to the United Sanctuary once before.

* * *

Back outside, just a long distance away from the gates to the fortress, the girl had been almost tired out by the long chase that she had been involved with, evidenced by her heavy breathing and her gradual decrease in running speed as she got closer towards her destination. The black dragon that was in the sky above that was originally behind her at a considerable distance was now nearly on top of her, as if she could almost feel its breath coming down her neck. She knew at the rate she was going about the situation that she was in, unless she could somehow lose her pursuer at this very moment, her chances of not being essentially 'dead meat' would be none to nothing. That thought had unfortunately distracted her long enough to give the dragon a chance to unleash another dark fireball from its jaws right at her.

The girl briefly gasped at how close the attack was coming in towards her before it struck the ground right behind her, the impact being enough to throw her into the air before tumbling back down to the hard earth until she was right on her back, now too weak to even get back up to try and run away again. She breathed as hard as she could, just as the dragon came down onto its feet with a large thud that shook the area. It walked on all four of its claws towards its prey, the situation appearing hopeless for the girl as she looked right into its menacing green eyes.

 _So this is how it all ends..._ she thought _First, I am no longer the person everyone wanted me to be just as I wished... now after uncovering the cruel truth of 'that place'... I end up in this strange place and meet my end by... this beast._

The dragon, now mere inches away from her was about to thrust its head with the jaws open wide before a loud yell had caught both it and the girl's attention all of a sudden.

"Gust Blaster!"

Despite her weakened state, the girl could just about attempt to sit up on her lower arms, just in time to see Blaster Dark leap past her and slash at the right side of the dragon's jaws. The beast screeched loudly in some form of pain as it now turned its attention towards the one who attacked it and growled loudly under its breath. The girl could hardly believe her eyes as to who had just saved her before the pain in her body from both the running and the close calls that she had from the dragon had eventually got the better of her as she fell unconscious. Before her back hit the dirt once again, she was caught in the arms of a human like figure that Blaster Dark had called onto the scene.

He didn't wear a cloak like the Revengers, but even so, he was still a well acqainted and trusted comrade that the black swordsman knew well from his first days as part of the Shadow Paladins, back when it was seen as nothing more than a terrorist uprising under the rule and founding of Phantom Blaster Dragon as like him, this sage had also once been part of the Royal Paladins. He wore black robes with several blue lines and patterns to contrast in his appearance. He looked on towards Blaster Dark himself and nodded, to assure him that he had the girl safe in his hands. The black swordsman then briefly nodded back.

"Charon, get her back within the fortress walls!" he called "I'll hold off Gust Blaster until reinforcements arrive!"

"Understood!" he called. He then heaved the unconscious girl onto his back and ran back to the fortress gates. The dragon briefly glanced behind before turning its attention back to the opponent in front of it.

"Junos..." a loud voice boomed out from the black dragon, now identified as 'Gust Blaster'. "It would appear that your loyalties have still remained in question."

"I am no longer the puppet that you once used for your gain!" Blaster Dark replied, taking up a stance for battle. "Neither are the rest of Shadow Paladin or the citizens of the United Sanctuary that you still attempt to devour for their power!"

"Come now," Gust Blaster continued "You have been aware of my policy since I took you in under my original self. The weak have no right to exist within MY clan and their lives, their power, belongs to me and that girl has been no exception!"

"What do you mean?!" the black swordsman demanded "I haven't had word of her being part of the Shadow Paladins!"

"Perhaps, but even so, I sensed I great dark power deep within her not of Cray in all of my years," the dragon responded "She would be a worthy sacrifice so I can increase the power I have in this state ten-fold, to the point where I surpass even myself before the fall to that 'Swordsman of Light'! You made a grave mistake betraying me to your former comrade Junos and now, I shall make you see the error of your ways!"

The black dragon then let out a loud roar which caused Blaster Dark to dig the heels of his boots into the earth to stand his ground before charging towards his enemy. Gust Blaster then unleashed several dark fireballs towards the black swordsman, who dodged some of them in succession whilst reluctantly having to slash away at two of them, which resulted in said two being detonated a bit too close towards him for his comfort. Ignoring the damage to his armor and his cape from the impacts of the blasts, Blaster Dark continued on towards Gust Blaster, letting out a loud battle cry as he did so. The dragon roared and leaped into the air, before suddenly lashing out its tail from the right.

The black swordsman, having been caught off guard briefly by this sudden maneuver was knocked to the side by the spiked tail. Landing on his back, he quickly rolled out of the way from another lash of the tail and leaped back onto his knees as the dragon was now in full flight by this point. Gust Blaster roared loudly as it unleashed another fireball towards its prey, intending for it to land dead center this time around. However, Blaster Dark had anticipated this counterattack and leaped up into the air to dodge the flaming projectile just in time as it hit the ground beneath his feet and continued through the air with a large yell as he brought his blade up high into the air, intending to land a direct hit on the dragon's body.

Gust Blaster however, was more than prepared for this. Growling fiercly, it charged straight towards the swordsman before ramming the top of its head straight into him, causing Blaster Dark to fall back onto the ground beneath them. He quickly straightened himself in mid fall before just about landing perfectly on his two feet, the heels on his armored boots digging into the earth beneath his feet upon impact from the descent. Gust Blaster then landed on its feet and charged towards him, prompting the swordsman to leap out of the way multiple times in succession before thrusting up the side of his blade to clash with the horn at the front of the top half of the dragon's head, allowing the two to literally face off up close and personal.

Both rammed their horn/weapon against one another until Blaster Dark quickly leaped backwards to avoid being overpowered immediately by this immense opponent. He panted as he observed the situation in front of him.

"So, have you finally accepted your fate, traitor?" the dragon growled beneath its breath.

"I see even in this form with pure insanity being your driving force, you haven't changed a bit," Blaster Dark spat back.

Gust Blaster simply ignored the comment before taking flight once again and charging towards the black swordsman who stood on guard, prepared to try and block another front on attack from the air. However, another roar from his right had suddenly caught their attention as a new dragon suddenly tackled into Gust Blaster from that direction. Unlike it, this dragon appeared to be more used to standing in a bipedal position as it landed onto the ground. It was covered from head to toe with black armor and much like Blaster Dark, his armor also had turqoise patterns littered all over the various platings and possessed a red cape on its back, just in front of the wingspan. It carried what appeared to be a mix between a lance and a giant purple spiked blade, like a halberd of sorts.

"Is she safe at the fortress?" Blaster Dark asked.

"She'll be okay!" called a voice from not far behind. The black swordsman turned his head to see Tartu along with a few others alongside her coming to join him and the dragon that had interrupted the battle. "Charon's bringing her to the front gates now."

"We must ensure that she recovers from her wounds," he spoke "There's some questions that I need to ask her about. For now..."

Blaster Dark and the others that stood alongside him in the turning point of the battle stared off against Gust Blaster who merely gazed upon them and then took flight. Before the dragon that interrupted the fight could strike him, Gust Blaster dove into the ground, seemingly into his own shadow before somehow swiftly using said shadow to retreat from where the battle had now taken place, much to the fury of a few of the troops and said dragon.

"Calm yourself, Raging Form!" Blaster Dark called "There's no point in pursuing it now. For now, we have other matters to attend to."

Reluctantly, Raging Form growled beneath its breath before flying over to join him, Tartu and the rest of the troops that had shown up, albeit a bit too late to do anything else of value to help favour the outcome.

* * *

As Charon hurried up towards the large gate that blocked his entry into the fortress, the metal barricade was quickly winched up by a nearby footsoldier up on the battlements above it. Mordred then came into the view of the Black Sage with another figure beside him. This figure was female, having light pinkish hair, much more black clothing and armor than Tartu, bearing the cloak of the Revengers and wielding a large blade and bright green orb in each respective free hand. The Black Sage panted as he eventually stopped in front of the leader of the Revengers and the current Grandmaster of the Shadow Paladins.

"J... Junos sent me back here with her," he said, briefly shrugging the shoulder that held the girl he had been carrying, who remained unconscious. "He wanted to make sure that she was safe."

"I see," Mordred replied before glancing down to his associate. "I imagine he would want her to recover. See to it."

"I understand," the female replied as Charon handed the girl he was carrying to her before she left for one of the inner chambers of the fortress. Looking back into the distance, he and Mordred could see that in the far distance, Gust Blaster was no longer visible and that Blaster Dark, Tartu, Raging Form and all of the troops that the Dark Cloak Revenger had brought with her were now coming back to the gates.

Little did anyone else from the gates know was that from a far off corner of one of the fortress' rooftops from out of plain sight, no one from the ground could have seen that a large figure that had watching over the entire battle that had played out before its eyes in the distance. The only distinguishable feature could have easily been seen was the blade it carried, stained in a claret red colour that was mounted on its back, behind the black cloth that it had worn. The obscured figure's size made it very apparent to anyone who would have seen it, that this observer was not human.

"That power I sensed is not of this world or of 'them'..." it spoke, a rough exterior to its voice "I must confront that girl about it."

* * *

 **And there we go! 'The Outcast and the Sword of Determination' has officially begun! Now, I am aware that Gust Blaster originally existed exclusively to the manga lores, but the recent lores in Dragruler Phantom and the Break Ride Phantom Blaster Dragon suggested that both Mordred and Gust Blaster existed in the same timeline. Also, I have a feeling you can guess who's been watching the battle and Iona from high up and out of sight. That aside, I hope you've all enjoyed the introductory chapter to this side story and I would really appreciate it to hear your thoughts. If I've done anything wrong to contradict the lores, please let me know and I'll do my best to correct those errors. Feel free to also favourite and/or follow and I'll see you next time.**


	2. Open 2: Acqaintances

**Hello again everyone! For those of you who have already caught up with Stand Up, the LRIG! to the latest chapter (and the hiatus note for that matter) and are wondering why it will take until late January before the next chapter can come out, it is mainly a debate I'm having with myself in that I may (or will) have to incorporate some (if not most) of Selector destructed Wixoss' plot elements somehow when the film's released (as from the looks of reused series footage in the recent trailer in addition to the new story content, it's going to be a retelling with additional elements) and I'm worried that may result in me having to redo the entire fic from the ground up. That aside, it won't be as much of a problem with this fic as the majority of it will be set on Cray. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the second chapter.**

* * *

 **...**

Complete darkness. That was what all of her vision had been displayed. Her entire line of sight was completely pitch black, until she finally managed to regain some strength needed to try and open her eyes. As she did so, groaning slightly in the result, her vision for what was in front of her had come out all blurry, with the only source of brightness being a bright green light above her to the right from her perspective. The rest of what she could see however was nearly completely dark. Then, she tried to move her limbs, only to cringe in pain during her attempt, closing her eyes briefly as she did so. When she did though, she could feel at last that she had been laid down on a flat surface, one that was at least soft to her.

"Steady," a female voice from her right spoke out "Your wounds haven't been completely healed yet."

The girl could only move her head to her right, her vision finally beginning to come into proper view as her eyes trailed upon the figure that had spoken out to her. The first thing she noticed was the source of the green light being a large orb like object of some sort that possessed the same colour as the bright light that it was radiating and her murky pinkish hair along with the dark red cloak on her back. Clutching her head for a brief moment, the girl briefly glanced down to see that she had been lying down in a bed of some soft, some time after she had passed out from being chased by Gust Blaster Dragon. She glanced over her outfit, taking note of the scorch marks and the ripped patches from the Abyss Dragon's attacks, then looked back up to the person that had been beside her.

"I see..." she murmured "T... Thank you."

"Think nothing of it," the figure replied "There are still some areas where I will need the utmost concentration to fully heal you, but it shouldn't be that much of a problem."

At this point, a noise was heard over at the doorway at the front of the room, bringing their attention towards the figures that entered. From what they could see, Mordred had entered the room, followed by Tartu, Charon and eventually, Blaster Dark himself. Upon looking at the black swordsman, the girl suddenly gasped as she suddenly recognized his appearance from back then, just as he approached the bed from the front.

"Are you alright?" he asked, a hint of sterness present in his voice.

"Y... Yeah," she replied, still somewhat bewildered from her scenario. "... Thank you for saving me back there."

"It was nothing that Dark-san couldn't handle," Charon spoke "He did a lot to make sure you were safe from Gust Blaster back there."

"So... that's what that dragon was called..." the girl murmured before suddenly looking back at Blaster Dark. "And you're... Dark-san?"

"Blaster Dark," the black swordsman interrupted, clarifying his preferred name for her. "And you are?"

"Iona," she answered "Urazoe Iona."

As the Sword of Determination held his hand to his chin, Tartu and Charon could only exchange confused glances with one another in regards to this action. Mordred however began to suspect otherwise. Little did they know was that the black swordsman was deep in thought, about what Gust Blaster had told him before they battled it out on the plain outside of the fortress. What did the Abyss Dragon mean when it said that it could sense a deep dark power within Iona that it had not seen on Cray in all of its years? All of its years would mean he could correctly assume that this also went for when it was still whole as Phantom Blaster Dragon. Realizing that everyone was staring at him, including the Revenger that was attending to Iona's injuries, Blaster Dark turned his attention back to the girl.

"Where exactly do you come from?" he asked.

"T... This may be hard to believe," she spoke "But... I don't think this is even the same world I live in. At least... it doesn't feel or look like Earth to me."

"So... you're from Earth then?" asked Tartu.

"Yes..." replied Iona "Well... if where I am now isn't some twisted version that's inhabitated by dragons or any other strange creatures."

"Well, I can confirm that this isn't indeed Earth," the Dark Cloak Revenger spoke "My name's Tartu."

"I'm Charon," the Black Sage said, introducing himself "And the guy beside Dark-san to your right is Mordred."

"Indeed, Tartu is correct," the leader of the Revengers spoke as he took several steps forward "Where you are now isn't Earth, but rather a world somewhat similar to it, as our Vanguard ***** has put it. This world is called Cray and we are, Shadow Paladin."

Iona then froze for a brief moment. Whilst she had indeed expected to find out that wherever she was happened to indeed be a place not familiar to her at all, a completely different world entirely however was the last thing that was on her mind to narrow down her assumptions to. From what Mordred had told her, she was now in the company of this Shadow Paladin that they were a part of, the girl herself having been unaware of the clan's existence beforehand. Thinking back to everything so far, including the events that led up to her arrival on this Cray, she knew that her rescuers would indeed be wanting answers as to how she came across their fortress and how she ended up being pursued by Gust Blaster Dragon.

"Since you come from Earth," Blaster Dark spoke out, interrupting her trail of thought "It's no surprise to say that you're human at the least."

"Well... to tell you the truth," Iona replied "I am... or rather, I was supposed to be an LRIG."

"LRIG?" murmured Charon "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a long story," she answered.

"Then feel free to start from the beginning," said Mordred "What is an LRIG and how did you end up on Cray?"

Now having thought back to the occasion that had set her life in motion to this point in time, Iona slowly but surely made the effort to sit up on the bed that she was resting on, cringing in pain as she did so. The Revenger that had attended to her wounds previously, helped her up from the back of her right shoulder. The 'LRIG' then looked forwards to the other Shadow Paladins that were in front of her.

"Before I became an LRIG, I was once perfectly human," she began "On my own home world, I was the heir to the Urazoe family back in Japan."

* * *

 _ **Flashback**_

" _This meant that I was next in line to inherit the fortune that my family has kept for years. This meant that I was granted access to some of the most highest of priveleges for my age and as a result, I had recently earnt alongside my education a chance to be a part time model._ "

The first scene that Iona could draw up from the back of her mind took place several weeks ago, when she was approached by an older woman who had offered her said job of being a part time model. Needless to say, she was somewhat bewildered by the sudden proposal, but she had eventually chosen to accept the part time job role nonetheless. Unbeknowst to her, someone from the doorway around a little below her age with bright orange hair and purple eyes watched her closely, her expression being mostly hidden from out of sight by said doorway.

" _However, this sort of lifestyle was not to my liking. I found the pressure from my family's expectations and the entire world around me to be too much, to the point where I wished that I could no longer be the person everyone expected me to be."_

One evening at the modelling agency she worked at, Iona could only stare out of the window into the stormy night, reflecting on her entire life of fame and fortune up to this point in time. Her expression showed that she was somehow disatisfied with the way her life had been going all of this time, not liking her position of both fame and fortune along with the expectations that everyone around her had held for the girl. Sighing for a brief moment, she turned her attention to a black box with several white lines etched on it that was recently given to her on the desk that was in front of the array of mirrors above it. The most notable detail on the front of the box however was the single word, 'Wixoss'.

 _"That was when on one fateful night, when I recieved a deck that belonged to the Wixoss card game that I and my family were approached to promote across Japan with the broader goal of the entire world... I met someone._ "

Out of curiousity from the gift that she had recieved, Iona opened up the box to find the cards contained inside that would form the deck that she would be using. The noticable details at first were the two different backings that her cards had possessed. Both had the Wixoss logo imprinted on the backings along with a single passage of text. That text read out:

 _A Girl prayed to fulfill her wish._

 _Scattered strange gene "Wixoss"_

 _all around the world fusion into one form._

 _Searching in vain for a fight..._

 _Victory will be the only way for her_

 _wish to revolutionize._

 _Now, shall her "Wish Across" be conquered._

Staring at the passage of words in wonder, Iona remained somewhat bewildered to their actual meaning, wondering if there was even one to begin with. Taking out the pile of cards from the box that had the white backings, she began to scroll through them, reading each and every one there was. That was, until she came to the very last card in the pile. It depicted a female figure, dressed in a black with her back seemingly turned to Iona's view, unlike the other previous 'LRIG' cards she had previously seen where she had a front view to her. This front view showed some pink bangs on either side of her jet black hair and their was some white present at the top of her dress. As Iona stared at the card in wonder, what happened next would defy nearly everything that she had believed in her entire life. The figure displayed in the card that she was now holding, began to turn around until she was now facing her.

"Good to meet you... Selector," the figure spoke.

"H... How is this possible?" Iona murmured "The fact that you're somehow alive within that card... and why did you call me 'Selector'?"

"Because you have been chosen to wield me," she answered, her gaze remaining somewhat stern since she had chosen to face her. "You are a Selector, a participant for the many battles that will lie ahead."

Iona was completely bewildered at this point. If the battles that this person inside the card she was holding was now telling her were somehow related to Wixoss, perhaps she could understand more about what was going on. Although she had never played the game beforehand, she had briefly read the rules prior to her latest fashion shoot earlier in the day, when she agreed to help promote the game across Japan with the broader goal of overseas. She mentally made a reminder to reread the rules as soon as possible, feeling that whatever happened from here on out would not entirely be of her own volition to enter these 'many battles'.

"Anyway... what are you exactly?" she asked.

"... 'LRIG'," the figure answered.

"LRIG?" she pondered "That's your name?"

"That's not quite true," 'LRIG' replied "But I don't have a name, so it will do."

Iona couldn't help but smile warmly in response. 'LRIG' seemed harmless enough to her, seemingly quelling any doubts she had of talking to her firsthand. Though the scenario as to why she was talking to what could seen by most other people as just a simple piece of cardboard still had her confused, she felt as if there was no harm to come from it for the moment. That was when 'LRIG' herself spoke out, bringing Iona's attention back to her.

"What is your wish?" she asked.

"Wish...? Let's see..." Iona pondered on the subject for a brief moment before thinking back as to how her life had progressed so far. When she realized the unsatisfaction she had of bearing everyone's expectations on her shoulders, she had come down to a definitive conclusion of what her wish was. "I guess... I don't want to be Urazoe Iona anymore."

"Then it appears you are prepared."

Iona then turned her attention back to 'LRIG', wondering what exactly she meant from what she had just said out loud.

"With that wish, myself and the deck you have in hand," she explained "Your journey into the Selector Battles to see to that wish... can now begin."

" _And so, with that knowledge in hand, I began my new life as a Selector beneath everyone else's noses. I entered many Selector Battles and continued to win to move forward towards attaining my wish. During this struggle, I eventually learned of one of the consequences that would have sprung up. If a Selector lost three Selector Battles, their very wish would be tainted and they would no longer be permitted to battle. I was saddened when I had found this out from a previous victory, but my resolve did not waver. When I obtained my final victory, everyone I had worked for was now about to come into fruition and after that..."_

In a dark space in which one of these Selector Battles had eventually concluded, Iona and 'LRIG' were now standing face to face, with their eyes closed off and the addition of bright pinkish wing like formations having appeared on their backs. After a few more moments had passed, everything suddenly went black for the both of them, literally, as the space went completely pitch dark.

 _"A new Eternal Girl, the form ideal to granting that wish, was born."_

Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, Iona woke up in a bright white space, with several strange designs etched into the surroundings, some of which showed a dark bluish like colour that was seemingly lurking behind them. Standing up, she quickly looked down at herself and was shocked to find that her appearance had somewhat changed. Whilst her body had not undergone any cosmetic altercations, her outfit was completely different to her school uniform, which she knew for a fact were the last clothes she wore during her final Selector Battle. Now she wore the black tights and gloves that she currently possessed and was confused to how this was possible in the first place.

"So you have finally realized."

Iona then turned around to find the source of the voice that had called out to her. The person that addressed the former Selector had long blonde hair and brown eyes. She wore a white sleeved dress that exposed her shoulders, with openings in the sleeves and also wore two red earrings. Her expression seemingly held a gentle appearance with little to no signs of malice displayed at all.

 _"It was then that I met Mayu, the one behind the creation of the Selector Battles. She told me everything there was that I wanted to know at the time. From what I understood, my successful oath with 'LRIG' had meant that I was now an LRIG and in exchange, she had now taken possession of my body."_

"Aren't you upset?" she asked as she suddenly reappeared in front of Iona. "But, all you need to do is become the LRIG and drag a Selector into battle. Then, make them feel the same despair that you now have felt, of 'LRIG now taking everything you have."

"That doesn't matter," the former Selector replied "'LRIG' won't be burdened by this at all. After all, my wish to no longer be Urazoe Iona has already come true. There is no longer any reason for me to participate in this struggle."

Mayu's expression suddenly changed to utter shock when she heard those words, much to the surprise of Iona. Then, she became infuriated with the way that things had suddenly played out in front of her.

"So then... you don't care about being human again...?" she muttered "Everything will end for you... tell me this, are you somewhat satisfied with the fact you can no longer go back to the life you once lived?"

"Yes, I'm fine with that."

"What...? That's wrong...!" Mayu growled "This is absolutely wrong! Say that this is terrible! Say that you want to be a human no matter what! Cry and wail in tears to the doomed fate that I have assigned you to!"

Before Iona could ask in confusion as to what exactly she meant, the mastermind opened up the palm of her right hand in a fit of rage, causing an aura of dark purple and black to consume the former Selector, causing everything around her to go completely dark and her body to somehow leviate backwards into the air, until she lost complete consciousness.

" _When I eventually regained consciousness, I was in the possession of another Selector, confirming that I did become an LRIG. Feeling that she didn't need to suffer, I tried to warn her about the consequences of the Selector Battles, but her stubborness and lack of experience resulted in her wish being tainted from our three losses and I was immediately sent to that White Room, only to return immediately back to another Selector. The same result happened and her wish was tainted._ _When I returned to the White Room after that however, I found out from the view of the windows that Mayu was not present. Then..."_

As Iona floated towards one of the many windows that surrounded the White Room, she could see that Mayu was not present at any portion of the vast expanse, she could only wonder at where the mastermind could currently be and if she was talking to another LRIG. Then, as if her ears were playing tricks, she suddenly heard a brief whoosh from behind her, towards the ground. Turning her head around towards a certain corner of the space, she could see the edge of a shadow disappear right into said corner. That was when she began to grow curious as to what else could inhabit this dimension.

 _"It was at this moment I knew that something else besides her and any other LRIGs awaiting their fates to their new Selectors existed in this space and with raised curiousity and suspicion, I decided to investigate."_

Gently taking advantage of the dimension's apparent lack of gravity from where she currently was, Iona slowly hovered down the walls surrounding the White Room until her feet touched the ground. She knew for a fact that if Mayu could somehow still sense that she had returned, she had very little time left to see what was going on from over in that corner. Running as fast as she could, the LRIG eventually reached the corner where she believed she saw the shadow vanish into, only when she eventually arrived did she find that this was no corner. In fact, this almost appeared to be the entrance to a tunnel, confirming a partial amount of her suspicions. Taking a deep breath, she stepped inside, only looking forwards towards the faint brightness near the end as she walked onwards.

 _"Once I reached the end of the tunnel, what I found next... defied everything that I had believed in."_

When Iona had eventually reached the very end of the long passage, she could only stare in wonder and shock at what she had stumbled across. The LRIG had ended up at the entrance of what appeared to be a very large room, littered with technology and beings beyond her current understanding. Most of the occupants that went around the room appeared to be humanoid, some even possessing what appeared to be wings on their backs. However, there was something on their backs that even had the LRIG feeling unnerved and very uneasy. Those objects were black rings with a dark red aura to them. Not wanting to bring their attention over towards her, Iona bit her lip to prevent herself from gasping as she slowly walked as quietly as she could into the room.

Looking across to both her left and right to the gantryway that she was currently standing on, she could only inwardly sigh in relief that no one was currently present before slowly and carefully moving along until she found a large structure that she could hide behind and survey from, at least for now. The thing that caught her attention the most though was the giant cylinder in the center of the room with several consoles stationed at it with a few of the cybernetic humanoid looking figures attending to them. As she tried to move her head forward to get a closer look, she suddenly heard footsteps coming from her right. Quickly turning around to assume that someone was coming her way, she could see no shadow to signal an approach. Walking over to the other side of the structure that she was hiding behind, she could see a larger gantry that was at a higher position of the room from where she was currently standing.

Glancing up to the front of said gantry, she could see a human looking figure, with large and somewhat wild bluish white hair, clad in white armour with several bits floating behind him to act almost like wings, a black ring floating behind him like all of the other figures that she had seen in this room and two long black swords with 4 pointed spike hilts that were stashed on the back of said black ring. From what Iona could see of him, she couldn't quite make out an expression from his opaque black visor with a single red line running across that covered where his eyes should be, at least from her perspective. Then, she heard a hissing sound from near the end of that gantry as she silently gasped as to who had walked into the room just now to join that figure.

 _"As shocked as I was to believe it at the time, it appeared that Mayu had already made some form of connection with those strange beings and from what I heard next had practically all but confirmed it."_

"As you can see," the humanoid figure spoke "My Cyberoid soldiers are beginning the final preparations to set up 'Project: Locked Soul'."

"That is good news, Photon," Mayu replied "If all goes according to plan, then those two 'experimental' rejects will be useful in playing a key role in the grand scheme of the Selector Battles."

"The development of a failsafe," said Photon "I can only assume you recently brought up the idea from your last encounters with that 'girl'."

"Indeed," she continued "The fact that Urazoe Iona did not despair at the prospect of being trapped forever in this cycle has been most troubling. I can only hope that she will eventually sink into the depths of despair... before we are forced to use less civil methods."

 _Less civil methods...?!_ Iona thought in shock _Just what could she mean?!_

"Halt!"

The LRIG turned around just in time to see several of the Cyberoids that she saw in the room had approached her from behind and were now pointing their weapons directly at her. The taller ones each wielded a long beam rifle like weapon whilst the smaller figures each held up their right wrists, pointing a guantlet like weapon right at her. Upon hearing the noise, Mayu and Photon suddenly looked down towards Iona, the mastermind having a mix of utter shock and infuriation present in her expression.

"You again!" she growled.

"Mayu, what is all of this?!" the LRIG asked in confusion.

"Something that you should have not seen," Photon spoke "I will see to it that my superiors will think of a more suitable punishment given your record in angering Mayu."

Looking over the side of the gantry, Iona quickly looked back to the Cyberoids that still held their weapons pointed at her before making a decision in her head. Then, she quickly ran towards the edge, catching the attention of Photon.

"Open fire!" he declared.

The other Cyberoids nodded and within an instant, began firing their weapons at the LRIG. Briefly gasping, Iona quickly leaped into the air towards the edge of the gantry she was on, barely dodging the shots as she did so. One shot from one of the taller figure's beam rifles however had partially grazed a portion of her outfit, incinerating a small patch on the left side. Iona landed on the bottomost floor of the room, briefly cringing in pain from the long jump down before quickly running off to dodge a few more rounds of firearms from the other Cyberoids who were now spreading out across the gantry very quickly. Some of the shots this time were shaped like small black boomerangs that were fired from the smaller figures that wielded the gauntlet like weaponry.

When she attempted to run back to the tunnel entrance though, several more figures intercepted her at the top of the stairs, prompting her to not go up before looking to either side to now see that she was now completely surrounded. Backing up towards one of the consoles that was in front of the giant cylinder at the center of the room, she could only look forwards to see both Photon and Mayu approaching her as they descended down the staircase. The mastermind of the Selector Battles held a hand back to the Cyberoid to prompt him to not advance any further, to which he silently oblidged. She opened up the palm of her right hand, with purple and black energy crackling within.

"You have proven to be a thorn in my side for the last time, Urazoe Iona," she spoke as she aimed her hand towards the LRIG "Now, witness your own downfall as I shall now see to those 'less civil methods' that I was previously discussing about with Photon."

As Iona could only stare on at her, Photon having realized what the mastermind intended to do quickly raised a hand to try and gain her attention.

"Mayu, wai...!"

But his warning came too late. Mayu unleashed a devastating beam of black and dark purple energy right at Iona who instinctly attempted to move to her right, just avoiding the midpoint of the attack as it struck the console. The impact of the blast combined with the destruction of the computer terminal then suddenly triggered a surge of energy that grew brighter and brighter as it engulfed the LRIG before the entire room was flooded in a blinding white light. Everything went black for Urazoe Iona at that point once again as she didn't or rather couldn't even think of anything else at this point.

 _"It was at this moment where I found that I was no longer within the domain of Mayu, Photon or the Selector Battles as you have now explained to me."_

Regaining consciousness, the first thing Iona could see was the solid dirt that was on the ground she was lying down on from her front. Getting up onto her knees, she could see that she was in one of the many rocky plains of the Planet Cray, not that she knew of it of the time, much to her surprise and sudden confusion. Looking up to the planet's blue skyline, she could only stare on in confusion to the various planets that could barely been seen from the visiblilty that she had.

 _"I was lost, confused and from my correct assumption at the time, stranded. It soon became clear that I was somehow marooned in that rocky plain with no leads back to civilization."_

Knowing that it was her only decision available to her as of this current moment, Iona chose a direction from her current surroundings and walked in that path. As she continued onwards, eventually, after a long while of seeing nothing but rocks with the ocasional sight of grassy plains around her during her trek, she could faintly see what appeared to be a tall structure in the distance. Walking onwards for a little longer, she came to the edge of a small, but fairly steep incline. From there, the LRIG could get a better view of the structure, now revealed to be the fortress from where Blaster Dark and the Revengers were residing.

 _"That was when... Gust Blaster appeared..."_

Before Iona could descend the incline properly, a loud roar could be heard from not too far behind her. Turning around, the LRIG gasped and looked on in shock to see Gust Blaster Dragon unleash a dark fireball from its jaws right at her. Turning around, she instinctively made the choice to go for a leap of faith, just as the fireball made contact with the edge of the ledge, the impact knocking her forwards and down onto the incline, causing her to tumble until she hit the bottom. Getting back up, she looked up to see that the Abyss Dragon had not given up its pursuit on her before running away towards the fortress.

* * *

 **Present**

"And then after that..." she concluded "That was when I met all of you."

Most of the Shadow Paladins that were currently present in the room were speechless with shock. It was one thing to hear about her journey to attaining her wish to no longer be the person she was at the time, but to hear everything that she had been through to reach this point in time was bewildering to say the least. Blaster Dark simply kept a sharp gaze upon her, the name Photon having somewhat struck a chord in his memory, especially when the LRIG mentioned the Cyberoids that were present in that dimension. Iona simply looked at him and the other Shadow Paladins, hoping that they would at least believe her to an extent. Mordred then stepped forwards to join the black swordsman.

"It would appear from your story that these Selector Battles you took part in have a darker image than you could possibly realize," he spoke.

"Yeah..." murmured Iona "I... thought there could be something else behind them whilst I was participating, but I did not think of what I stumbled across back in that room."

"Then it would stand to reason from your description, that Link Joker have somehow had a hand in everything you've been through."

Whilst the LRIG could only blink in confusion, both Tartu and Charon felt on edge for a brief moment, the mere mention of the clan's name having brought back some unsettling memories from the Invasion War some time ago. Although they, much like Blaster Dark and Mordred knew that a majority of the clan had been accepted by Cray itself, they also knew that several forces still alligned to the Void had still escaped and could be planning to strike again at any given opportunity. The fact that Iona had learned of their existence through her unintentional discovery at the time back in her own world had all but confirmed this suspicion.

"Link Joker...?" the LRIG pondered, noticing the two Shadow Paladins' discomfort from mentioning the clan.

"Link Joker... was our most recent enemy," Blaster Dark answered, bringing her attention back to him. "They are the forces of a dark and dangerous presence known simply as the Void. The Planet Cray and the many clans, ourselves included, waged countless battles against the invaders and it was only through a miracle from another corner of the United Sanctuary and a certain event on Earth that we managed to drive them away. Then after some strange occurences, a majority of them were accepted by Cray itself as simply another clan whilst the remaining forces, known simply as the Star-vaders had chosen to remain with the Void and fled."

"And I can only assume those forces ended up forming an alliance with Mayu," Iona concluded. She then held her head down, taking everything she had now learned about into account and thinking over what had happened. _Could 'LRIG' have already known about this...?_

Blaster Dark simply kept his gaze upon the LRIG, thinking over everything that he and the other Shadow Paladins that were currently present with him had learned from her. Thinking over the subject, he believed he could finally understand what Gust Blaster Dragon had been talking about earlier in their brawl with one another. It was referring to the powers that Iona possessed as an LRIG, though part of him still had doubted the legitimacy of the claim, given that he did not sense such a thing when he approached her just now. Thinking it over, he turned over to the Revenger that had been attending to the LRIG's wounds.

"How is she currently holding up?" he asked.

"I will need a few moments to finish healing up her injuries," she answered.

"Good," the black swordsman replied "Once you've finished, bring Iona to the courtyard of the fortress. There is something that I need to confirm."

He then turned to Mordred, as if his gesture was signalling for the leader of the Revengers to come with him. The elf nodded in response before taking his leave with Blaster Dark to exit the room through the doorway. Whilst Tartu and Charon could only ponder as to what he had in mind, Iona simply remained puzzled, wondering what the black swordsman could be thinking about. As she did so, the Revenger beside her held up the green orb she wielded, causing the LRIG's body to gain a bright green aura as she attended to her remaining wounds.

* * *

 **And there we go! After giving what has been practically her life's story in the Selector Battles, Iona continues to be healed up from her earlier injuries whilst Blaster Dark takes his leave with Mordred in order to make preprarations for the LRIG in order to confirm some earlier suspicions he has been feeling. Can she gain his trust and that of the Shadow Paladins? Stay tuned to find out as next chapter will also come packaged with the completed next chapter for Stand Up, the LRIG! I hope you've enjoyed this and I'd really appreciate any feedback that is given. Until then.**

 ***Quickly dropping an allusion to Ren there.**


	3. Open 3: Worth

**Hello everyone! Welcome back to the latest update of 'The Outcast and the Sword of Determination' and as I have promised, unless you have already seen it, I have also updated 'Stand Up, the LRIG', finally bringing it out of hiatus. Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

* * *

As they walked through the corridor, Tartu, Charon and Iona were all engrossed in their own thoughts as each of them were pondering over the day's events and how it had gone from their own perspectives. The LRIG could see that the Black Sage was still feeling somewhat uneasy around her and from the reactions she saw when Blaster Dark had concluded that she had stumbled across the Star-vaders within Mayu's domain along with his brief but somewhat informative summary of the Invasion War, she couldn't exactly blame any of the Shadow Paladins for feeling this way. At the same time though, this had also greatly concerned her about what they were planning to do next at this very moment.

 _They can't think I'm with these Star-vaders as they called them_ she thought to herself _But with the way things have been, including my own involvement with the Selector Battles, I suppose I can see why they're so suspicious about me._

"Hey, Iona."

Iona looked to her right to see that Tartu had spoken out to her. The Dark Cloak Revenger's expression seemed somewhat intrigued, but also riddled with a hint of suspicion much like Charon's for the moment.

"When you mentioned that you were battling as an LRIG," she said "You never exactly mentioned how you were able to fight an opponent."

"Well... I only fought when I was given a command to attack," Iona replied "I had several forms, each one stronger than the last as a battle would progress. Whilst not battling and at the very start, this the way I look right now."

"Is there any chance you could somehow call upon those 'forms'?" asked Charon.

"To tell you the truth Charon, I've never been able to call upon my higher Level forms outside of battle," she answered "I might have mentally attempted to do so whilst in that lab of this Photon, but it has been to no avail of my own will."

"So... you've never been able to fight on your own volition?" murmured Tartu.

Iona shook her head in response to the Dark Cloak Revenger's question as the three of them continued through the hallway of the fortress that they were currently in. Eventually after walking for a little while longer, they came up to an open doorway that led to an area outside, the bright daylight sun shining through the archway. They emerged into an open area where they could see several other Shadow Paladins, all wearing cloaks to indicate they were also part of the Revengers that Blaster Dark had founded. Some of them stopped their current conversations to see Iona for the first time, all sharing looks of confusion upon seeing the LRIG with the exception of the troops that Tartu had taken with her outside the fortress to intercept Gust Blaster Dragon.

She didn't know how exactly to react to the situation that was now before her, having not been used to seeing people that hadn't already known her name from an outsource means on a regular basis, given how her life played out until she had entered the Selector Battles with 'LRIG'. She nervously waved back to some of the groups, hoping to at least get a friendly response from some of the other Revengers that were present. Some of them waved back in response whilst the others resumed whatever activities or conversations that they were in the middle of before her appearance in the open courtyard. From the group of Abyss Dragons that were present, only Raging Form briefly looked over Iona, assuming that was the person that Blaster Dark had told him about earlier.

Meanwhile from atop the fortress walls and out of sight, the dragon that had been observing Iona's entry into the fortress from seeing Charon pass her unconscious body over to Mordred and their healer, kept his gaze trailed upon the LRIG and her current accomplices as he watched them walk through the courtyard. A low "Hmm..." which sounded almost like a very low growl sounded out of his mouth as he moved carefully across the fortress walls, trying not to attract any unwanted attention towards himself. He had been following her for a reason, much like Gust Blaster Dragon unbeknowst to himself and was determined to find the source of this 'dark' power that it could sense. What intention that this dragon had for Iona or this power it was after, remained to be seen.

Back on the ground of the courtyard, Charon, Tartu and Iona had eventually managed to catch up with Blaster Dark and Mordred as they saw them beside two warriors. Both had pale dark pinkish hair and wore similar armour with notable differences to distinguish themselves from each other to an extent. One was taller than the other with the smaller of the two wearing glasses and wielding a shield in addition to the sword that he carried.

"So what did you call us here for?" asked the Black Sage.

"You will find out very soon," Blaster Dark replied before he turned his attention over to the LRIG. "Iona, meet Rukea and Rakia. I have assigned them for the test that I am about to conduct in a few moments."

"Test?" Tartu murmured.

"Dark has informed us about Iona and everything she has informed him about," Rukea spoke "So he has decided to conduct a test to determine whether what she speaks of is the absolute truth."

"And what would this test be?" asked Iona.

"I suppose we'll find out in a couple of moments," muttered Rakia as everyone could suddenly hear a noise coming towards them.

Then from nearby, they turned to the side and could see what appeared to be a rack with various types of weapons stashed on it being wheeled over towards them by two other knight like figures. They left the weapons rack beside the small group before immediately leaving to resume their previous duties prior to Blaster Dark and Mordred's arrival in the courtyard. The black swordsman then glanced back at Iona, as if he was ready to explain what was about to happen in this 'test' that he had drawn up at this very moment.

"In order to determine if I'm certain that we can trust you," he spoke "I've devised a test for that purpose. Your opponent will be either Rukea or Rakia depending on your choice and you may choose one weapon from this rack to aid you in this duel."

"I see..." Iona murmured as she looked over towards the two Revengers who simply looked back at her. "And... I need to beat my chosen opponent to pass?"

"For the majority, that would be correct," Mordred replied "But we may be willing to consider a stalemate, if your performance is satisfactory enough."

The LRIG remained silent for a few moments, her earlier assumptions of why the Shadow Paladins seemed suspicious of her seemingly coming to pass at this very moment. She then took her time to briefly obeserve the seperate appearance of Rukea and Rakia, taking note of both their armaments and their size before turning her attention to the weapons rack. Part of her felt uncomfortable in picking up a weapon of choice from her own volition to an extent, given that the only times that she would ever wield one would be in one of her higher level forms whilst she was participating in a Selector Battle. Thinking back to that and looking over the choice she had, she noticed a long spear with a sharp tip at the front and a stylized pattern adorned on it.

Iona had vaguely remembered being mostly acqainted with this kind of weapon back in her world when she was battling with the two Selectors that Mayu had sent her to. She recalled feeling somewhat more graceful with this kind of weapon than her bare fists to an extent, despite the losses that she had suffered whilst spending her time with said two Selectors. Making a decision, she took it from the rack and held it vertically with her right hand before looking back to the two Revengers that were assigned for this test and by then, she had an idea of who she wanted to face.

"I'll choose to face Rukea," she spoke.

"Very well then," the Overcoming Revenger replied as he turned to Blaster Dark who nodded in approval of the decisions made.

"Take up your positions on the empty patch beside us," said Mordred.

Both Iona and Rukea nodded in compliance and walked to their right onto an empty patch where their spectators would hopefully be right out of range for their 'test', in order to avoid any unfortunate or nasty 'accidents' in the midst of their duel. Blaster Dark then turned to Charon who nodded in reply and brought out a book before opening it up to a certain page. From there, the Black Sage started chanting in what appeared to be an incomphrensible language as a circle like formation suddenly appeared around the two combatants, much to the surprise of Iona as she watched the glow encircle both her and Rukea as the Overcoming Revenger simply took up a stance, seemingly somewhat unfazed by this.

"If any of you step outside of Charon's boundary," Mordred spoke "You will be disqualified."

"Understood," replied Rukea as he briefly brandished his sword, prompting Iona to hold up her spear in preparation for the signal to begin the duel. Part of her was feeling very nervous, given that this would be the first time that she would have to think on her own feet whilst fighting off the Oncoming Revenger and control her own actions to an extent. But she knew that unless she could put up a good fight, there was little chance of the Shadow Paladins dropping their drawn up suspicions from her earlier story.

"Then... begin!" called Blaster Dark.

At that signal, Rukea immediatly charged right towards a somewhat startled Iona as she quickly leapt to the side in response to the headforth attack, barely missing a swing of the Revenger's blade. Noticing that her feet were edging closer to the boundary that Charon had drawn up earlier, she could only sweat for a moment before looking forward to see Rukea come up right in front of her. She held out the pole of her spear in front in an attempt to block the strike and succeeded to an extent, only to find herself being knocked backwards even further towards the edge of the boundary. Leaping to the side to dodge another swipe of Rukea's blade, Iona decided that staying on the defensive any long wasn't going to her any good and held out the point of her spear towards him the moment her feet touched the ground again.

The two then ran towards each other before they began swinging their weapons at one another, with the tip of Iona's spear and the blade of Rukea repeatedly coming into contact with one another as each combatant tried to outmanuever the other with each of their clashes coming out as nothing more than stalemates every time. When they broke off for a brief moment, Rukea could see that Iona was panting for a brief moment as she struggled to keep her otherwise calm composure together after everything that had just gone on.

"So you chose to face me knowing I would not wield a shield unlike Rakia," he spoke "An interesting tactic coming from your perspective."

"I guess I could take that as a compliment," Iona muttered, trying to muster up some form of confidence in the face of her opponent.

"But the error you have made is misjudging the skill I make the use of with this single blade," the Revenger replied "Let us see if that will not be your own downfall today."

The two combatants then charged at one another once again, with their blade and spear point hitting one another with almost flawless timing. Over on the sidelines, even Tartu was somewhat impressed that Iona could keep up with Rukea's attacks for the moment, though part of her still had some doubts considering the answers she had gotten in response to the LRIG's proper combat experience. The Dark Cloak Revenger simply chose to say nothing and keep an eye over her, wondering in curiosity as to what could happen next. Blaster Dark simply kept his gaze upon Iona, seemingly expecting something to occur at any given moment, if the right opportunity were to show itself amidst this duel.

"You still have your suspicions, Junos?"

The black swordsman then turned his attention to Mordred who had asked him the question at this very moment. Part of him still sighed inwardly for being addressed by that name.

"Right now, we know that a remainder of Cray's common foe still lies out there," he spoke "The fact that Iona was amongst them does trouble me in the slightest. If she was affected by their power or worse sent by them... then that truth will reveal itself in this test."

Charon and Rakia said nothing in response to what Blaster Dark had to say, but their thoughts had trailed back once more to the Invasion War for a brief moment as they then turned their attention back to the duel in front of them. Back inside the boundary, Rukea and Iona at first remained on even footing throughout the duration of the fight, but the LRIG's lack of long time experience in combat was beginning to get the better of her, meaning that the Overcoming Revenger was successful in landing some direct hits after she was beginning to tire herself out from the prolonged exposure. She panted as she leaped back to dodge one strike from Rukea and held out the long pole of her spear to block another as she was knocked back even closer towards the boundary.

Rukea who had shown practically no signs of slowing down or even tiring out himself throughout the whole duel had simply remained at a small distance away from the LRIG as he looked down upon her. He held out his blade as Iona finally stood back up onto her feet and charged back towards the Overcoming Revenger, holding out the tip of her spear in front. In response, Rukea swung his blade the hardest he could into her weapon, the impact knocking her backwards towards the edge of the boundary and her right hand, barely clutching onto her spear as she panted even harder.

"It seems that this is the limit of your ability," the Revenger spoke as he brandished his blade once again. "Perhaps Blaster Dark has somewhat misjudged you, Urazoe Iona."

"I... won't give up," panted Iona as she went deep into her thoughts. _But... Rukea's greater experience has barely worn him down, even after this long and I've barely made a dent in his armour. If only I had my powers from the Selector Battles, I..._

Suddenly, as if those thoughts suddenly raced around her mind, she could feel something familiar that was racing around the veins of her own body. It felt strange, powerful and... somewhat dark. It was almost like the Spells and the ARTS that her Selectors had cast through her in the midst of their battles back in her home world, but she never experienced this feeling on her own volition, let alone bother to even think about it whilst she was wandering around Mayu's domain, only to stumble across the Star-vaders. Trusting her instincts at this point in time, she began to focus her thoughts onto one place as the tip of her spear suddenly began to crackle with energy, catching Rukea briefly off guard as he looked on.

"Is that...?" murmured Charon.

"Dark-san, you don't think...?" asked Tartu.

"No..." he replied "That's not Reverse. This is... Iona's own power, most likely from her previous battles now that she can control it."

At this point, Rukea decided that he had enough waiting around and let out a mighty battle cry as he ran towards Iona, with his blade held back at the ready. The LRIG decided now was the time to stop thinking and that now was the time to act as she swung the sharp tip of her spear, still crackling with energy right at the Revenger's blade as he brought it forwards towards her. The exact timing was perfect. The moment the sharp point and the long blade collided, the energy that was stored at the tip of the spear erupted, knocking Rukea off balance and forcing him backwards, giving Iona the opportunity to leap forwards and swing her weapon at the Revenger again, this time causing him to jump backwards upon noticing that he was not properly oriented yet.

Although the LRIG appeared to have now gained the upper hand, she was not out of danger just yet. She knew that she was still tired out from enduring the earlier hits and the length of the duel meaning that one fatal mistake could lead to her blowing her chances of victory in this contest. Rukea now having regained his proper balance looked on at Iona and couldn't help but somewhat smile in response to her performance at this very moment.

"It seems you still have some fight left in you," he mused "But from here on in, I will not hesitate to knock you out of that boundary."

"Bring it," the LRIG replied as she clutched ahold of her spear tightly.

When a few moments passed, the two charged towards each other once again, with each of their weapons swinging into each other, each impact proving to be much harder and more effective than the last. Iona's spear once again had the tip crackling with dark energy whilst Rukea was using more aggressive force in each of his swings, compared to earlier where he had kept it to a controlled, but powerful extent. After several clashes, the two found themselves at a stalemate again, waiting for one to make a fatal mistake in these last few moments. When a small breeze whistled by, the two charged at each other once again, with their weapons at the ready. Charon, Rakia and Tartu looked on, expecting another clash to go down between the two, but Blaster Dark and Mordred's expressions allowed anyone else to tell that they thought otherwise.

As Rakia swung his blade right towards Iona, the LRIG, rather than swinging the tip of her spear to meet with the blade or holding the long pole out in front to defend, suddenly stopped in her footsteps and leaned backwards for a brief moment. This was all that she had needed for this opportunity. The swing of the blade went just past the front of her outfit, much to the surprise of Rukea as she then proceded to swing the energized tip of her spear right into the top of the hilt that was connected to the blade. The impact was strong enough to knock the weapon out of the Revenger's hand as it flew across the courtyard and outside of the boundary until it landed tip first into the ground, just a few feet away from Blaster Dark's boots.

Just to be certain that her opponent had no other options left, Iona immediately held the tip of her spear pointed right Rukea, who remained still as the weapon was pointed towards his neck. The Oncoming Revenger, now disarmed could now see that he was without any means of defending himself and that attempting to fight on bare handed was not the wisest of options given his better experience with his blade rather than his own hands. He sighed under his breath as he let out a somewhat reluctant smile to his current scenario.

"Good grief..." he muttered "To lose out on even the basics of disarmament... this is rather embarassing. The victory is yours, Urazoe Iona."

Iona could only sigh in relief as she pulled back her spear, trying to catch her breath from the midst of the long duel whilst Charon eventually caused the boundry he created to disappear. Even Tartu and Rakia were somewhat surprised as to the outcome of the 'test' that Blaster Dark had drawn up, given what the Self-control Revenger knew of Rukea's greater experience in combat whilst the Dark Cloak Revenger was mostly curious to the energy that the LRIG had manifested on the tip of her spear. It didn't feel like the power wielded by the Star-vaders, so she felt that she could drop some of her earlier suspicions then but she remained curious nonetheless.

At this moment, both Blaster Dark and Mordred walked over towards the two combatants, but not before the Illusionary Revenger picked up Rukea's blade from the ground and handed it back to him. The black swordsman then turned his attention over to Iona.

"It seems we have somewhat underestimated your tenacity," he spoke "But regardless of that, you have succeeded in passing the test I have laid out before you."

"T... Thank you," Iona panted, still trying to catch her breath by this point. "So... what happens to me now?"

Before anyone could answer in response to her question, they all felt the ground shake for a brief moment as a large thud was heard not far from where they were standing. Turning their attention towards the direction of where they heard the noise come from, they could see that the dragon that had been watching Iona from afar whilst previously keeping out of sight had finally decided to reveal itself to all. Whilst the LRIG could only look on in confusion at him whilst he took several small strides towards the group, Charon, Tartu, Rakia and Rukea's expressions had gone rather bitter the moment they recognized the new arrival to the courtyard of the fortress. When the dragon stopped, both Blaster Dark and Mordred looked up at its head, their gazes having become rather stern at this moment.

"So... this is the one I have been hearing about," he spoke, his tone being very bold with a hint of partial fierceness to it "Iona was your name if I recalled?"

"Who are you?" asked Iona.

"He calls himself Claret," Charon interrupted, his tone having somewhat a hint of disgust to it "One of the more nastier Abyss Dragons within our clan."

"That guy's way of doing things with his 'troop' sickens me," Tartu responded, her voice alone being enough for anyone to tell that she shared a similar opinion about the dragon that had now appeared before them.

"Claret, what brings you to here at this moment?" Mordred asked sternly.

"You haven't already figured that out?" Claret replied bemusedly as he took the large claret stashed on his back and pointed it towards Iona. "It's because of her and the potential that I have now seen today. I cannot see her reaching the full power she could possess whilst serving under your Revengers and your cowardly excuse for a Grandmaster."

"Why you...!" growled Rakia, struggling to keep his own self-restraint under control from hearing the dragon's words at this very moment.

Rukea who had also been angered kept a hand on the Self-control Revenger to prevent him from doing anything rash in this 'conversation'. From what Iona could see and hear at this very moment, almost everyone around her seemed to share their distaste for Claret, made clear by their disgust in their tones and what Tartu seemed to be getting at 'that guy's way of going things'. In an effort to prevent anything ugly from erupting between both the Revengers and the Abyss Dragon, Blaster Dark stepped forwards with his gaze sternly trailing upon Claret.

"What exactly do you want, Claret?" he asked.

"It is simple," the dragon replied "I simply believe that Iona would be make a fine addition to my 'troop' and given the proper training and ruthlessness, she would make a fine warrior on the front of Shadow Paladin and eventually, the whole of the United Sanctuary."

"United... Sanctuary...?" Iona murmured in confusion, having not been told about the nations and the other clans of Cray beforehand.

"So then," Claret boldy spoke out "What shall it be?"

With the exception of Blaster Dark and Mordred who remained tense at this very moment, Tartu, Charon, Rukea and Rakia could only wonder in worry as to what decision Iona was planning to make at this very moment. A deathly silence fell over the entire courtyard as tension began to rise amongst the Shadow Paladins in the area, each within their own thoughts to the scenario before them and how the LRIG was planning to approach it on her own terms. Iona however was unsure of how to approach this, given that until recently, she never exactly had been able to make her own decisions on how her life was to progress forwards. But now she felt was the time to change all of that and start trusting her own instinct and doing what she believed was right. Eventually, after several long moments had passed by, she had finally made a decision.

"I will decline."

Whilst nearly everyone beside her was somewhat surprised and relieved to hear that wasn't planning to leave the fortress with Claret, the dragon seemed to be somewhat unfazed by this, unbeknowst to them. Blaster Dark simply kept his gaze upon the LRIG, believing that there was more to her rejection to the Abyss Dragon's offer at this very moment.

"From what I can gather from my accomplices," she spoke "Their shared opinion of how you run your 'troop' as you have put it seems very negative to a degree and from the way that you mentioned your offer, I believe I can see why."

Tartu and Charon simply smiled in admiration to her response, feeling as if the decision she made now would be the right one to come into the near future. Not showing so much as a hint of frustration, Claret simply pulled back his sword, turned around in response to the LRIG's answer and began to leave the courtyard. But as the Abyss Dragon did so, he turned his head around towards to indicate that he wasn't quite finished with what he had to say to her.

"If that is how you want it, I suggest you think about it," he spoke, his tone now more fiercer than before "Before I leave, I must give you one piece of advice. Weakness is a sin. Remember that well."

And with that, the Abyss Dragon took a mighty leap into the air and up over the top of the fortress walls, disappearing behind them and out of sight. As the courtyard fell silent once more, Iona turned around to Blaster Dark and Mordred, believing that there was still much to be done now that she had passed the black swordsman's earlier 'test' by defeating Rukea.

"So... as I was asking," she said "What happens to me now?"

"Now that we know that you not a threat to us and that we can now see that what you say is indeed true," Blaster Dark replied "We will agree to take you under our wing, until we can find a way for you to return back to your world. Whether you wish to do so as an official Shadow Paladin or not, is entirely up to you."

Whilst Mordred remained motionless in response to this, the other Revengers that were present with them were curious as to how Iona would decide to approach Blaster Dark's ultimatum. While it was indeed true that the LRIG had now demonstrated before them that she could now think and fight independently on her terms now that she was far out of the reach of the Selector Battles, they knew that she still had some inexperience within her own range of combat and that would be a lasting effect on whatever decision she decided to make.

"I understand your concern about my well being in getting back home..." said Iona "But... I feel now that my life there has come to an end... I believe should make a new start on Cray... as a Shadow Paladin."

"Then so be it," replied Mordred as he walked towards the LRIG. "You have already been through much today, so I suggest taking some rest for the moment."

"I'll show you the way to my dorm," Tartu spoke as she came alongside Iona "Dealing with Gust Blaster and going straight into a duel certainly took a lot out of you."

"T... Thank you," said Iona as the two of them left the courtyard together.

When the Dark Cloak Revenger and the LRIG were eventually out of sight from the remaining Shadow Paladins, Charon then turned over to Blaster Dark whose gaze had not left the direction in which Claret had exited the fortress. The appearance of the Abyss Dragon at this point in time along with his earlier offer for Iona to join his 'troop' had certainly proven to feel most troubling to the black swordsman and given the reputation that Claret was known for amongst the Revengers, he couldn't help but share some of his own disdain deep within his thoughts.

"Can't say I can blame you for thinking about him," Charon spoke out.

"Indeed Charon," Blaster Dark replied "But with both him and Gust Blaster after Iona's power on their own terms, I may need to keep a close eye on her and hope that my earlier suspicions do not come to pass."

Mordred simply kept his gaze upon the black swordsman, having also felt some disdain from Claret's appearance on this very day. All that he knew from what was to come and what could happen next was that the true test of leadership, was about to fall upon Shadow Paladin and quite possibly, the whole of the United Sanctuary.

* * *

 **And there we go! In an effort to gain the trust of the Shadow Paladins, Iona agrees to a one on one duel with Rukea. Although she finds herself overwhelemed from her lack of proper combat experience, she eventually manages to tap into a small portion of her power from the Selector Battles and with some clever thinking, manages to turn the tide and claim victory. At that time, Claret Sword Dragon enters the fortress and offers the LRIG an deal to join his troop, but Iona refuse in view of the other Revengers' negative opinion on his own way of how he handles things. What will lie in store for Iona in the future adventures to come on the Planet Cray? Stay tuned next time to find out. Feel free to share your thoughts and I'll see you all next chapter.**


	4. Open 4: Haven

**Hello once more fellow readers! First off, I sincerely apologize for having this next chapter long overdue for nearly a year since the last update, but I'm finally up and rolling again with this story. Most of it was to do with planning out the rest of the story (given how many of the lores I needed to read through time and again to get a proper understanding) and when to tie it in with Stand Up, the LRIG! when it starts getting to the points which involve Iona's presence in the main story there. Also as a heads up, I think it's best I let you know that after the next chapter is released by the end of next January (at the earliest), updates for 'The Outcast and the Sword of Determination' should roll around monthly at the minimum from there, maybe less if I can find the time. Other than, I hope you enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

Eventually, after leading her acquaintance down several long corridors throughout the fortress of the Revengers, Tartu stopped in front of one of many doors that littered across the hallway around her and opened it up, allowing Iona to enter the Shadow Paladin's dorm room. The LRIG could see that as she had expected from her run of the structure thus far that it seemed more 'medieval', as evidenced by the seemingly apparent lack of modern technology that she had come across so far on her venture across Cray and somewhat come to expect, given that she was not within the comfort of her own personal bedroom back home. Looking to the far wall in front of her, she could see a stained glass window with multiple clear diamond shaped patterns etched into the window.

Turning to one of the walls beside her, Iona looked at what appeared to be a large ornament with a red fabric draping down from it, the black pattern on it shaped almost like a crest of some kind. The pattern comprised of four small curved triangular shapes pointing the curves outwards, with six more shapes surrounding it. Looking to the table that was beside Tartu's bed, the LRIG could see that with the exception of a small painting that was hung above the small piece of furniture that several books were stood on its surface. The Shadow Paladin turned to face Iona, noticing her intrigue of her room so far.

"Is everything here alright with you?" she asked.

"Well, I will say it is quite different than what I'm normally acqainted with," the LRIG answered in a gentle tone "But... I do thank you for generousity Tartu."

"That's good," Tartu replied "I'll get Claudas to bring you a spare bed, if he and Dorint aren't fighting with Rukea or Rakia, again."

"What happened the last time?"

"It's a long story... ***** " the Shadow Paladin muttered as she shook her head "I swear those four can be complete idiots when that happens though."

"I see..."

The LRIG laughed a little in response, albeit nervously from under her breath, presumably from understanding the three Revengers a little more through Tartu's explanation. Taking that thought off her mind for the moment though, Iona couldn't help but wonder as to what was going on back in her own home world at this very point in time. She had her suspicions since Blaster Dark's clarification as to what she had previously encountered within the White Room in regards to her former companion, that she had simply just named 'LRIG'. The LRIG still had no idea of whether her 'companion' had any knowledge about this or not, or even if anyone else involved with the Selector Battles knew about this at that time.

Deciding not to ponder on this any further for the moment, she looked towards the painting that she had seen earlier. It depicted a young woman dressed in black armour, much like the rest of the Shadow Paladins that she had encountered so far, whilst also wielding a small blade in her left arm with a shimmering glow to it. The figure wore long black boots and gloves in addition to both a skirt with a purple piece of fabric draping down the front center and a dark purple cloak with a bluish outline to it. She had goldish yellow eyes and a very light shade of whitish blue hair with a headdress of two black spikes with blue lines on them protuding from each side of her head. Tartu upon seeing what had intrigued Iona at this very moment turned her attention towards her.

"So you've noticed?" she asked.

"Huh?" the LRIG pondered before briefly looking back at the painting "Do you mean...?"

"The figure on that painting," the Dark Cloak Revenger replied "She's... someone that I greatly admire. Even if Shadow Paladin wasn't always in the right state of mind back then."

"Do you know who that is?" asked Iona.

"That is Macha," she answered "She's the reason I've decided to fight with Shadow Paladin. A 'genius' commander as many have called her, she once fought on the frontlines alongside Blaster Dark and the original Shadow Paladin, even before its reform."

"Is she here?"

Tartu simply shook her head in response to the LRIG's question at this very moment.

"Shortly after I had joined Shadow Paladin," she explained "I learned that she went out on jobs for the clan outside of the main force, usually from outside of the boundaries of the United Sanctuary."

"I see..." Iona murmured.

"But, even if she isn't here right now, that hasn't changed my resolve at all," Tartu continued "Right now, I feel like I now have a new purpose to protect the United Sanctuary that she is a part of so that when she eventually returns back, there will still be a place for her to call home. That's the reason that I'm fighting under Mordred and Blaster Dark's leadership and not a brute like Claret."

The LRIG slowly breathed in response to what she had just listened to. To think that the Dark Cloak Revenger still had the will to fight on the frontlines, even when the commander that she had admired was currently absent from the remainder of the Shadow Paladins. She knew from the back of her mind the kind of conviction involved was one that would take great loyalty and dedication to fulfill. Thinking back to the Selectors and LRIGs that she had encountered within the Selector Battles back in her own world, Iona knew that those desperate to have their wish granted would have no doubt had strong convictions of their own, ones that would not had lasted long however, given what would happen to them, regardless of whether they became an Eternal Girl or had their wish tainted.

 _But... Tartu felt like she had a purpose for the way she is now..._ she murmured in the back of her mind _And I simply... wanted to no longer be myself because I didn't like being viewed the way everyone expected me to be. Was it wrong of me to think that way?_

"Is something on your mind?" asked Tartu, causing her to blink for a moment.

"It's nothing..." Iona answered before looking back at the Shadow Paladin in front of her "Besides... shouldn't I meet everyone within the Revengers first? It might ease my transition a little better."

"I see..." she replied before smiling warmly "Fine by me. I'll take you to the main hall of the dorm later once you've gotten some rest."

The LRIG smiled for a moment, feeling somewhat happier that she had found someone who was helping her to become more accomodated to her current surroundings from what little of the Planet Cray she was already familiar with. From whom she had met so far, Tartu seemed like the friendliest of the Revengers that she had come across thus far, not to say that she had any initial dislike of Blaster Dark or Mordred in spite of their far more serious demanor, given that she felt somewhat indebted to them for saving her from Gust Blaster Dragon and giving her a place to call home after proving herself in the duel with Rukea.

Lying down on the only bed that was currently in Tartu's room, she pulled out and held above her the spear that she had chosen for that said duel, which she had stashed on her back since her intial encounter with the Abyss Dragon known as Claret. She knew little of why he sought interest in her in particular, but from what the LRIG could gather from her new companions' reaction to his earlier appearance, this was one individual unit of the Planet Cray that she wouldn't want to involve herself with for one reason or another. Knowing that she would have to ask the Revengers later about Claret whilst she gazed up at the weapon she had picked, Iona decided now wasn't the time to ponder about this doubtful subject and focus on some cause of celebration for her achievement of the day.

* * *

Elsewhere, within a more dark and somewhat decrepit area of the United Sanctuary, the Abyss Dragon that was known to most as Claret stood in the center of an arena like podium with his large blade of the colour that he was named after stood into the ground in front of him with the claws from his arms firmly grasping the hilt as a harsh wind whistled throughout the open air, causing the black tattered cape that he wore to flap around behind his back. The silence that followed afterwards was shortly interrupted by the sound of footsteps along with the clattering of armour as several figures figures arrived in his presence. A woman with murky coloured hair that seemed somewhat of a mix between purple and grey held out one hand for the others to stop as she continued onwards towards Claret, finally stopping at a distance from him.

"You summoned me, Lord Claret?" she asked, briefly bowing in the presence of the Abyss Dragon.

"Of course, Branwen," Claret replied "We all have much to discuss."

"Is this about 'girl' you saw at the Revengers' fortress?" one of the soldiers from the crowd asked, his voice being easy to identify from the commander's perspective "Did you manage to recruit her?"

"Patience, my brethren," the Abyss Dragon spoke, raising his blade into the air before thrusting it straight back into the ground with one arm, causing the floor to crack slightly. This was a sign that showed he was deadly serious in what he was about to say next to his troops, or 'brethren' as he had called them.

"Mordred's convinction is one that is not to be underestimated," he continued "Even if Iona isn't acqainted with her surroundings, she will fall back on him and Junos all too easily for guidance."

"Then, what is it that you suggest we do?" asked Branwen.

"Rest assured, an opportunity will present itself soon enough," the Abyss Dragon concluded "Junos has a strong will, but one that can crumble so easily. Such a front is not fitting for who Mordred sees as the supposed future leader of Shadow Paladin."

The air remained eerily silent as Branwen rose up onto her feet once more as the remainder of the troops behind her had also remained quiet, unsure of how to pinpoint the exact meaning of Claret's words at this very moment, given that he was the only one of their army, the leader to be exact, who had come into contact with Iona herself, if only for a short while. The Cherishing Knight remained standing as she was, unwavered by anything around her for the moment as the Abyss Dragon approached her, as if he had something to address her with.

"Instruct Gyva to keep a close watch," he spoke with a graveled tone to his voice "We cannot allow this opportunity, whenever it may occur, to pass by our eyes. That power she commands, wherever it may have come from, will be mine."

"I understand, Lord Claret," she replied.

The female knight nodded only once before turning around and walking past the troops to the exit of the arena, the group quickly spreading out to two seperate sides, knowing better than to cross paths against her as the Abyss Dragon's first lieutenant. Branwen left the premises in search of Gyva, to inform this particular individual of Claret's request and whatever it was that he had planned for Iona in the near future. All the while, no one noticed from the top edge of the arena the unnatural shadow cast there by a familiar presence as evidenced by the sharp green markings that seemingly resembled eyes that were present. They narrowed for a moment before the presence of that shadow decided to take its own leave from the premises.

* * *

Later that evening, within the large hall of the dorm that lay in the interior of the Revengers' fortress, Iona sat with Tartu at one of the many tables of the large room, discussing over the day's events and everything that had brought them to the point where they were now. When the conversation had somewhat finished there, the LRIG took her time to look around from where she was sitting, noticing the many soldiers, creatures and other beings that were a part of the group. Before she could speak out, she felt someone or something lean right into her from her left as she turned to see who it was.

"Oh, goodness me!" the figure replied, her voice "I must not have noticed you there!"

Iona, slightly surprised by the new arrival whose presence was rather close for her comfort, turned to face her in the same direction that had her beside them. She was an Elf, much like Mordred, whose skin was slightly tanned and she had blonde hair with several portions having a hint of light purple to it which was also the colour of both her eyes and lips. She was dressed in a one-piece suit of black armour with light turqoise edges to them as well as armoured leggings, boots and other armour that covered her arms and part of her head with the same design and much like every other Revenger present in the hall, she also wore a dark red cape that was behind her back.

"Um... hello," Iona greeted, still feeling somewhat bewildered that she was up close to a figure whose species she would have only heard in fables or fairy tales, much like the Abyss Dragons she encountered earlier in the day. "My name is Iona."

"My, the Iona I've heard who defeated Rukea in a duel?" the elf replied to which the LRIG nodded once "Well, if could hold your own against a more experienced comrade like him, you might make the higher ranks with proper training in no time at all. My name is Mana."

"It's... nice to meet you."

Iona, still feeling formal in her mannerisms, offered out one hand to the Wily Revenger who gladly shook it with somewhat of a gleeful and mischievous smile on her face, something that had caused Tartu to raise one of her eyebrows a little.

"Where have you been all day anyway Mana?" she asked "Don't tell me you were up to no good with the Witches again."

"So I asked them to employ one of their more cheekier methods whilst we were in Zoo," Mana replied in a musingful tone "But given the fact that we finally put some of those more annoying bugs from Megacolony in their place for what happened a few days ago, I'd say the trade-off was worth it, give or take a few temporary fluxes with my transportation spells."

"Zoo?" Iona pondered, having not been fully familiarized with everything on the Planet Cray as of yet.

"Oh, so you don't know of our world's six nations?" the elf asked to which the LRIG nodded in reply. She then looked back to Tartu. "Tartu, aren't you being a little slow on her uptake today?"

Tartu, not willing to put up with any more teasing from Mana, closed her eyes in response and cleared her throat with a loud cough to bring Iona's attention back to her.

"As I was going to say," she began with a brief glare to the elf "There are six nations across Cray's land and seas, each with their own unique denizens and creatures spread across them, the majority being part of the clans they fight for. They all have their own ways of life and how they do things, with the occasional few crossing into the borders of morality."

"And what are these six nations?" asked Iona.

"There's Zoo as Mana brought up earlier," Tartu answered "It's home to the peaceful Great Nature and the plantlife-like beings of Neo Nectar. Unfortunately... it's also home to Cray's most infamous criminals, the bugs of Megacolony and their queen which we have yet to find any information on."

"I see..." the LRIG murmured before looking back to Mana "What exactly happened?"

"It... It's something we don't wish to talk about!" she replied, her cheeks flaring up a bright red in slight embarassment.

This was enough for Iona to see why she had to employ the help of these 'Witches' she spoke of earlier as well as prompting herself to avoid asking any further on the briefly discussed subject for her sake. Seeing that the conversation on the subject of Cray's nations was getting nowhere at this point, the LRIG looked back to Tartu so she could continue with her explanation.

"Next, there's Magallanica," the Dark Cloak Revenger continued "Most of the nation is predominantly a large portion of Cray's ocean in one large area, home to the mermaid idols of Bermuda Triangle, the necromancers of Granblue and the naval forces of Aqua Force. South from there is Star Gate, the nation that hosts the Nova Grapple to all competitors there, be they organic or machine and is also the main place of operations for the Dimension Police clan who are currently keeping a close watch over the Link Joker remnants that are appearing to seek acceptance."

Iona couldn't help but ponder when she had heard the name Link Joker again for the second time since she had regained consciousness in the fortress. It was clear from her previous near-capture experience back in Photon's Lab within Mayu's domain that they were a terrifying force to be reckoned with and this 'Invasion War' she had heard that had taken place beforehand was certainly a painful reminder to the majority that were now around her. Whilst she would have hope that these 'remnants' were as peaceful as they claimed to be seeking out, she knew she could not be complacent in that regard.

"Then we have the Dark Zone," Tartu spoke "Not the friendliest place around on Cray, given that it is home to the violent Spike Brothers, the strange and formidable Dark Irregulars and the circus lot of Pale Moon. Just to the northwest from where we are is the largest nation of Dragon Empire. It is predominately a military nation that is home to Kagero, Narukami, the ninjas of Murakumo and Nubatama as well as the Dinodragons of Tachikaze."

"Dino...?" Iona pondered "As in... like dinosaurs?"

"If that's what you refer to similar creatures on Earth, I suppose so," Mana replied with a shrug, not knowing that dinosaurs were indeed extinct on Earth long before Iona's time had even begun.

"Finally," Tartu concluded "We're all here in this fortress as part of the United Sanctuary, a place where science and sorcery have melded into one as part of life here. Aside from Shadow Paladin which you fought to be a part of, there is the Royal Paladin with the nation's current ruler, Alfred, the goddesses of Genesis and Oracle Think Tank and the warriors of Gold Paladin, which some of our number joined when Blaster Dark was lost to the Void."

Iona nodded in response with a kind smile, now understanding everything that she needed to know about the six nations of the Planet Cray and a majority of the denizens that now lived amongst her here. Before she could say anything more in regards to her personal understanding of the subject, she noticed some white fur that was passing by from the other side of the table between two other Revengers that she was not acqainted with as of yet. Curiously, she decided to get up from her seat and decided to see what exactly it was. Shortly after she had come around to the other side followed by Tartu, she could see that it wasn't as unfamiliar to her as any of the dragons or elves that she had encountered today.

The creature that the LRIG saw before her appeared to be that of a dog as evidenced by its bright black nose, the long ears, the way its paws appeared and the tail that it had. It wore eight bits of black armour with bright turqoise etchings on them and three crystal like shapes on each of the attachments on the upper hinds of the legs. A ninth piece of armour was shaped like a collar that was attached to its neck with a piece of red fabric hanging above like a scarf of some kind, leading her to assume that this dog was also a part of the Revengers. It looked up at Iona and tilted its head slightly as she looked back down at it in return.

"Hello there..." she spoke in an attempt to kindly greet the newcomer.

Seeing that the dog was not moving in response aside from the quick wag of its tail, she bent down to try and keep as close to its level as she could whilst taking a step forward at a time, slowly but surely coming a little close.

"Careful Iona," Tartu murmured "Not all of the High Beasts in Shadow Paladin are easy to tame..."

As the Dark Cloak Revenger finished her sentence, the dog in front of Iona leant back for a moment, causing the LRIG to stop in her footsteps for a moment before the High Beast itself suddenly leapt forward without warning and tackled her to the ground. Before Tartu could gasp in shock, she looked ahead again to see that things had not played out as she thought she would have. Unexpectedly, the white dog had came up close to Iona's face and had been licking her cheeks for the last couple of seconds.

"There...!" she called, unable to hold herself back in laughter as the dog barked for a moment before licking her right cheek "That tickles!"

Letting out a sigh of relief from assuming the worst far too soon, Tartu couldn't help but smile for the LRIG, seeing that she had managed to easily befriend the High Beast that had come around their table. The Dark Cloak Revenger suddenly saw that a portion of the hall around where they were had gone silent the moment they saw that the dog had managed to befriend someone in their presence so easily. She walked over to the pair as the dog let out another bark after licking Iona once again.

"I can't remember the last time that someone's actually been able to get along with Spinbau as well as you have," she spoke.

"Spinbau..." Iona murmured as she looked back to the dog on top of her "That's your name?"

Spinbau nodded once and barked happily to confirm the LRIG's guess to its name. It moved back off of her to give her a chance to get back onto her feet after the initial 'push-over' that had occurred between the two of them.

"Well I'll be," said a voice from nearby "A victory in a first-time duel and now taming one of our High Beasts like nothing."

Iona and Tartu looked behind them to see two more Revengers join their presence as evidenced by their almost identical and somewhat matching capes. Their black armour and spears along with their purple hair also appeared to be nearly identical to one another two with the only thing telling them apart from first appearances alone being that one had bluish purple embued into their spear on their back as a secondary colour whilst the other had bluish black in some kind of contrast. The taller of the two looked to the shorter who appeared to be slightly younger than him.

"I concur with your statement, Claudas," he replied "But bear in mind that it was fortune that saved her, given that Junos told me of her lack of combat experience beforehand."

"Iona, this is Dorint," Tartu spoke "He's the older of the two brothers here."

As Dorint gazed upon the LRIG, not taking much notice of Spinbau who was sitting on its hind legs beside her, the younger sibling that was addressed to her as Claudas, approached her.

"So you're the new recruit to Shadow Paladin I see," he said, offering out a hand to the LRIG who shook it gently in response "I'm sorry we couldn't be at the duel to see what had happened."

"Don't worry about it," Iona replied "I'll confess that I'm still somewhat out of shape, given my previous experiences as an LRIG for a long while."

"Anyway..." Tartu spoke, bringing the attention of the two brothers to her "Could you two help in getting a spare bed to my dorm? Dark-san assigned me to make sure Iona settles in with her transition."

"Understood," Dorint replied as he motioned for Claudas to take his leave with him.

The younger sibling waved goodbye to the LRIG as she waved back in response with a bark or two followed afterwards by Spinbau. When the two had left the large hall, the LRIG along with the dog and Tartu were now amongst themselves once again with only Mana and the other Revengers around the large open room for company throughout the duration of the evening. There was a lot for her about the Planet Cray that she still needed to take in if she was to fully understand her surroundings and come to terms with her her new role in Shadow Paladin. But for now, for the first time in weeks since she had been first drawn into the Selector Battles, she felt that she had finally had a place to call home.

* * *

 **And there we go! As Iona becomes more acqainted with her surroundings and informed through a brief summary of Cray and all of its denizens, she is quick to find a new companion in the High Beast known as Spinbau. Meanwhile, Claret Sword Dragon sends Branwen to look for Gyva so that his plan to control the LRIG's powers as his own can begin to take shape as an ominous shadow watches from afar. What does the Abyss Dragon have planned for Iona? And will she be able to comprehend and understand everything on the Planet Cray around her? Find out next time on The Outcast and the Sword of Determination.**

 **Please share your thoughts and criticisms on the story so far and for those who have also read the card lores of the Revengers and any other units (prior to the release of Movie Trial Deck: Malefic Deletor and any of the Deletor units released in Movie Booster: Neon Messiah), if there are any suggestions you would like to see for the story to go forward, feel free to PM me about them. Other than that, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you all next time!**

 ***Tartu refers back to this 'argument' in Mordred Phantom's card lore.**


	5. Open 5: Beginnings I

**EDIT 13/03/2017: Made an error in spelling Junos as Yunos.**

Later that night, Iona was walking across the ramparts of the fortress with Spinbau following closely behind her. Knowing that she was tired from much of the day's sudden events, she knew that a long rest would be in order once she returned back to Tartu's room, where Claudas and Dorint would have hopefully have gotten her bed inside by then. After everything she had been through on her first day on the Planet Cray, she was relieved to have found new companions to be alongside and even a place to stay at if her near death experience with Gust Blaster Dragon was anything to go by. She was taken out of her trail of thought by the sound of Spinbau's bark as she looked down to the dog High Beast, noticing it was wagging its tail.

"Easy," she said as she knelt down to pat its head "We'll need to head back to the dorm soon. Tartu may be expecting us."

After Spinbau barked once again in response, the LRIG then stood back up and looked over the horizon that was shown from the view that she had from the top of the ramparts. Although she was now more used to Cray's skyline after looking at the night sky a few times in what little time she had to herself on the planet, she couldn't help but somewhat admire how beautiful it looked with the distant moons and planets that were visible amongst the dark blue backdrop that was far into the distance from the fortress. The moment her thoughts drifted to thinking on such a topic however had immediately cast a hint of sadness on her visible expression as Spinbau had noticed from the blink of its eyes. The sound of footsteps immediately caught its attention followed shortly by Iona as they looked back to see that Blaster Dark had joined them at this very instance.

"B... Blaster Dark," she stuttered, noticing his usual stern gaze as she was already familiar with throughout the duration of her stay on Cray so far "So... what are you doing out here?"

"I could ask the same of you," he replied as he walked over towards the LRIG.

"I was just walking across the ramparts," she answered "I must say, the night sky of Cray is certainly beautiful."

As the black swordsman continued onwards towards where they were standing on the ramparts, both Spinbau and Iona noticed that he wasn't alone. Trailing behind him was another High Beast, this one also being a dog from its initial appearance. It was covered almost entirely from head to paw in black coloured armour with several whitish blue lines etched into it. A single plate of that colour covered over where the dog's eyes were as it sniffed the air for a moment before gazing down upon Spinbau who simply barked twice in response. The black armoured dog barked once for a brief moment as it then looked up towards Iona who was curious about this new High Beast in their presence.

"I see Fullbau has caught your interest."

The LRIG blinked for a moment to see that Blaster Dark was now standing beside her at a small distance away from her.

"Well... it certainly looks fascinating," she answered.

As she then took a few steps towards the black armoured dog to try and greet it in the friendliest manner she could muster, Fullbau upon sensing her approach growled loudly in response, prompting her to back away immediately. As Spinbau barked fiercely in response, Iona knelt down to tend to the High Beast that she had befriended earlier in the evening.

"It's okay," she said, trying her best to calm the white dog "Tartu did warn me that not all the High Beasts would be friendly towards me."

As Spinbau glared at Fullbau for a brief moment before looking back up at the LRIG, she stood back up and looked back to Blaster Dark who had been looking at Fullbau throughout their brief 'struggle' to know each other better.

"Fullbau hasn't been met with grace throughout its life," the black swordsman spoke "Throughout many wars, even before Shadow Paladin was reformed to what it is now, its presence for whatever reason has had others associate it as a symbol of misfortune. As such, from both its participation in said wars and the outlook from a majority outside of Shadow Paladin, it does not trust those are not already close to it so easily."

"I'm sorry to hear," Iona replied, feeling somewhat sorry for the black armoured dog as she looked back at it.

Fullbau remained silent at this point, saying or doing nothing more as it simply turned its head away from the group of three and walked on its way back into the inner corridors of the fortress on its own accord. The air remained silent for several long moments as not even Spinbau had decided to bark if only to just break it and fill the air with noise once more. Iona simply stared blankly towards the doorway where the black dog had departed through, lost in thought for a moment as Blaster Dark could notice with his stern gaze. A gentle breeze drifted throughout the night atmosphere, causing his dark red cape to flap to slightly amongst the quietly whistling wind that was around all of them.

"I have been curious."

The LRIG then blinked as she regained her sense of reality around her before looking back to the black swordsman, wondering why he had addressed her this way.

"When you told us about your time as a Selector," he spoke "You mentioned it was because you no longer wished to be Urazoe Iona, the person that everyone in your world laid high expectations of."

"That's right..." she replied, still confused as to why he was recounting this.

"I wanted to know, what it was you intended to achieve through this way."

Iona remained silent for a few moments, knowing that Blaster Dark had wanted answers behind her reasoning for her wish, to no longer be the person called 'Urazoe Iona' that was at the height of everyone's expectations back within her own home world. Whilst being born into such a wealthy family did have its own initial benefits as she experienced on a few previous occasions, she felt that there was something that was leaving dissatisfied with her life, before she met 'LRIG' for the first time. Now that she had time to think back over that reason however, she realised the Shadow Paladin had uncovered something that not even she was aware of when first thinking of her wish.

"To tell you the truth... until I told you everything, I never exactly thought of what I was aiming to achieve," she answered "But now that I look back at it, I think I know why."

Spinbau simply stared up at the LRIG whilst wagging its tail whilst Blaster Dark kept his narrow gaze sharply pointed towards her, expecting that answer to her true reasoning would reveal itself now.

"I no longer wanted to be Urazoe Iona... because I felt the way I was, I couldn't decide my own path."

"So it was freedom from your family's peers that you sought?" the black swordsman asked.

"Something like that," Iona replied as she looked back out towards the night sky in the distance "I know that there were individuals that were envious of my family's reputation and fortune, but even they had something I thought I never could have. They had their own choice to decide their own future and follow their own dreams. The Urazoe family already had my fate set out and to this night, I still doubt they would not object to what path I wished to choose. That's why I turned to 'LRIG' and the Selector Battles, even if I didn't know what was really going on behind them at the time."

"I see."

As the night air went silent once again, with only a brief bark from Spinbau to break said silence for a few short seconds, Blaster Dark closed his eyes and began to walk away from the LRIG, his boots clattering against the stone floor of the ramparts with every hard step that he took. She watched him continue on his way across towards the other side of the fortress before he then stopped in his footsteps, as if he had something more to say.

"I understand your desire to follow your own path now, even if joining Shadow Paladin is part of that," he spoke "But you must also understand that there are no easy choices in life. There will be battles you will fight to defend this Sanctuary from those who wish to bring harm beyond our borders and there may be other dangers you have to familiarize yourself with. Therefore, I will ask once again." He then turned his head to face her. "Are you truely prepared to accept your new role?"

Iona remained silent in response to his question, but nodded to give him confirmation that she had every intention of staying as a part of Shadow Paladin, despite the fact that she knew she would have to go into battle alongside their forces eventually throughout the duration of her stay on Cray. Seeing that their conversation was finished there, Blaster Dark continued on his way across the ramparts towards the far side of the fortress, leaving the LRIG and Spinbau on their own once again. Realizing that Tartu would be expecting her back at her room by now, she looked down at Spinbau who barked as she knelt down to gently pet its head. Smiling kindly to the High Beast, the two of them re-entered the fortress from where they originally went onto the ramparts from and headed back to the dorm.

* * *

Elsewhere within the nation of the United Sanctuary, a large room lay out from the top of a small flight of stairs. From the top of those stairs and seated on the large golden throne that stood beneath two large pictures, each depicting a different dragon, was a rather tall individual. He was covered in mostly white armour with hints of gold plating and several light turqoise coloured lines etched amongst it and a red gem embedded in the middle of the chestplate. A dark blue cape behind the figure's back was furled up as he sat in the large throne, contemplating on recent events and everything that was happening within the United Sanctuary from outside of this very room.

"You seem troubled."

The figure opened his red eyes as he looked towards the person that spoke out to him. Like him, this knight was also clad in white armour with several light turqoise lines etched into several places. Only this person's appearance from just the armour and the colour placement alone seemed to be nearly identical to that of Blaster Dark as he too also had green eyes like the black swordsman. Unlike him however, this swordsman's gaze seemed to be much less stern and sharp and the large sword that he wielded possessed a much different shape.

"Is there something worrying you, your majesty?" he asked.

"I am simply uneasy, Ahmes," the seated figure replied, addressing the swordsman by his name "We almost lost you again to that accursed darkness and yet, the scenario of how you were saved is still one that baffles me."

"Indeed, I never thought the one who'd save me would be it of all of Cray's denizens," said Ahmes "But I imagine that's not all on your mind."

The person the swordsman addressed as his 'majesty', a title befitting to that of a noble king such being the man that sat in the throne at this very instance, sighed deeply as he rose up and descended down the small flight of stairs.

"You said that you saw Photon and a few of his forces retreat after the battle," he spoke "If he intends to strike again..."

"Then we will defend Cray together with all our might," Ahmes replied "If Photon refuses to see that there is potential for peace amongst our home world, then we will have to fight him down to the bitter end, Alfred."

Alfred remained silent, though his expression showed that he still felt uneasy about the whole situation. Even though Ahmes had been freed from Photon's clutches once before thanks to a certain denizen of Cray, the fact that the Swordsman of Light was almost lost for good to the darkness of the Void for a second time however had greatly concerned him, not helped by the fact that the Star-vader's most recent commander was still out there somewhere amongst the stars, unaware of his current work within the White Room outside of the 'other' world where Iona had come from. The sound of footsteps brought his and the swordsman's attention towards a certain individual who had entered the room of his own accord.

It was the same person who had been observing a certain plain of the Planet Cray some time after Iona had first landed on the surface and had been chased by Gust Blaster Dragon. The green lines and jewels etched into his robes and the hat that this person wore made him immediately recognizable to the pair, having seen him around the Sanctuary before on seperate occasions of their own. He looked over to the pair after lifting his head slightly.

"What brings you here, Zenon?" asked Alfred.

"Forgive my uninvited entrance, your majesty," Zenon replied as he briefly bowed to show his respects "But in light of recent observations, I believe we have much to discuss."

Both Ahmes and the King of Knights looked to each other for a moment, wondering what it was that the Sage of Guidance had to tell them at this very moment, given how rare it was for him to talk to either one of them on a regular basis. Given what they had already known about him, both of them could agree that he would not usually appear before either of them unless what he had to talk to them about was very important, especially if it had considered the fate of the Planet Cray itself. Looking back at Zenon, they were prepared to listen to what it was that he had to offer in his own findings to the two of them.

* * *

The very next morning as sunlight radiated through the stained glass window of Tartu's room, Iona rubbed her eyes as she yawned for a moment before rising up from the spare bed that was delivered to her room during her walk on the ramparts and her conversation with Blaster Dark the previous night. She didn't entirely have the best of sleep however with her damaged and somewhat tattered outfit not helping in the slightest. Looking over to Tartu's bed, she could see that the Dark Cloak Revenger was still sleeping at this moment, inwardly advising herself to not wake her up at this instant, if her annoyed mood at Mana the previous night as well as Claret was anything to go by.

She looked over to the spear that she had been carrying on her back since her duel with Rukea that was lined up against the wall to her left view of the room, in front of her bed. Iona knew she had chosen such a weapon if only from her previous familiarity of wielding a spear during some previous Selector Battles, whenever her Selectors had grown her to a high enough level. However, even she knew that practice would be needed if she was going to use it to properly defend herself against what other dangers of the Planet Cray she had yet to encounter. As she delved deeper into her thoughts however, her focus was broken by the sound of yawning to her right. The LRIG looked over to see that Tartu at this instance was waking up as she stretched her arms before turning to face her.

"Morning Iona..." she yawned as she got up from her bed "Did you sleep well?"

"Mostly," Iona replied as she stood back up onto the floor "I've... just been having a lot on my mind."

"I'm guessing it's because of Dark-san."

The LRIG said nothing in response, though she knew that Blaster Dark's words to her earlier that night was the reason that she was already contemplating everything around her much more than she would normally do. Seeing this, the Dark Cloak Revenger then smiled a little in an attempt to try and lift her spirits.

"I know Blaster Dark can be a little hard on some of us, but he really means well," she replied "He does care for the state of what Shadow Paladin is now, not just us Revengers. Just give it some time and he might be more used to having you amongst us."

"Thanks Tartu," said Iona, feeling a little more cheerful now.

"Now then..." Tartu continued as she went for the door of her room "First things first, we really need to do something about replacing that ruined outfit of yours."

Iona glanced over her outfit, once again seeing the extent of the damage and dirt that was already inflicted upon it from her various close scraps with Gust Blaster Dragon after she had arrived on the Planet Cray for the first time. She was initially pleased that it had managed to hold up during her duel with Rukea, but even she knew that just mere tattered fabric would not last long when she could potentially be involved in a conflict right from the get go. Laughing nervously a little in addressing the issue, the Dark Cloak Revenger simply smiled, understanding the LRIG's attempt of trying to lighten the mood of her slight dillema.

"Come with me," she spoke "We'll get you suited up."

Iona nodded as she picked up her spear from the nearby wall before following her acqaintance through the bedroom door, curious to see what the Dark Cloak Revenger had in mind for her.

* * *

Eventually, the two of them had entered a large room filled with all kinds of weapons and armoury that were littered across both the walls and the tables of where they were standing. Iona couldn't help but but feel amazed by what lay before her in the room she had just been introduced to, but also feel dwarfed by the sharp shapes of some of the larger weapons she could see. Large swords, halberds, battle axes and spears that were styled similar to the one she carried on her back were only but a mere few of what she could see around her. In the center of the room lay a large circular pedestal that seemed to resemble a large table or what some would consider as just a large slab of raw iron that formed the very shape she could see.

A loud clang was heard from that pedestal as a large halberd like weapon with multiple glowing pink spikes was dropped onto the very top of it. Looking over to who had 'placed' it there, Tartu and Iona could see that it was the same dragon that had saved Blaster Dark from Gust Blaster, evidenced by both its flowing red cape and the turqoise coloured lines that were etched into both its body and the two large spikes that were behind said cape. The Dark Cloak Revenger had already known about this particular dragon, having been present with it when Gust Blaster had retreated from their last confrontation. The dragon then gazed upon Iona, having somewhat recognized her appearance.

"... Hello there, I'm Iona," the LRIG nervously greeted "Um... I think I remember seeing you nearby the courtyard yesterday."

"So you're that girl, I see," Raging Form muttered in mid growl "What brings your presence here?"

"Iona's just here to pick up some armour to replace her damaged outfit," Tartu interjected "We were just seeing if there was any that would do her fine before we consider asking someone to help forge it for her."

The Abyss Dragon said nothing in response to the Dark Cloak Revenger, but left the iron pedestal where his weapon was still resting and walked over towards Iona, gazing down upon her as it stood at a distance away from her.

"I do not see why Junos believes that Gust Blaster seeks to acquire something from you," he spoke "But if he sees potential in you, then that answer may come in time."

"Junos...?" Iona murmured in confusion, unfamiliar with the 'real' name of the black swordsman.

"It's Dark-san's real name..." Tartu clarified as she paused mid-sentence "He... doesn't like being addressed by that for whatever reason."

"I see..." she replied "Names aside, I'm just baffled as to what Claret sees that I have."

As soon as she had uttered the Abyss Dragon's name however, that only served to eminate a low, but noticably loud growl from Raging Form, indicating that much like Tartu, Charon and Rakia, it shared its own displeasured opinion of Claret.

"Or we could just ignore that subject..." the LRIG interjected.

"Claret is many things around this Sanctuary, but trustworthy is something that hardly any of us would associate with him," Raging Form growled "He follows only one motto, that 'Weakness is a sin', the same principles once used by the one that originally founded our clan."

Iona remained silent for the moment, deciding that perhaps it was best to not progress any further along this subject and return back to the task that was at hand, after noticing that even Tartu had gone silent throughout the duration of her brief conversation.

"Anyway, shall we get back to finding this armour you wanted me to have?" she asked.

"I might be able to help with that."

Looking back to the doorway, the three occupants of the room could see that Charon had entered along with Mana in tow as she followed the Black Sage closely behind to join them. The Wily Revenger waved hello to Iona as Tartu simply remained unfazed to her response, not feeling in the mood to put up with any teasing she would have at the back of her mind.

"Dark-san already told me that your outfit had seen better days," Charon spoke "So he asked me to come and help forge some new ones here. With some help required from Mana of course."

"Thank you Charon," said Iona "I would really appreciate it."

"Well then, if we aren't busy right now," Mana interjected "Shall we begin?"

The Black Sage beside her nodded as he looked to a pile of spare metal plates and ore that were nearby the solid iron pedestal that Raging Form had left his weapon on top of, seeing that the two of them could hopefully get to work and help Iona replace her tattered outfit. The LRIG had no idea of what to expect next, knowing that she could only watch and see what would take shape from their efforts.

* * *

 **And there we go! As Charon and Mana begin working together to forge new armour for Iona to replace her tattered LRIG outfit, the Sage of Guidance and one of the few masters of time on Cray itself, Zenon, appears before the King of Knights, Alfred and Blaster Blade themselves to discuss his recent findings and how they could affect Cray's very future in the coming weeks. What will unfold next? Find out next time on The Outcast and the Sword of Determination. Please share your thoughts and criticisms in the reviews and I'll see you next time. Until then!**


	6. Hiatus Note

**Hi everyone! If you're wondering why I haven't uploaded anything to this particular fic in a long time, it's because I have the ending portion already planned out, but trying to work out the rest of it as it goes along. Most of it is having to do with the lores and the apparent time gap that is present on Cray between Legion-Mate and the start of the G Era in said lores.**

 **So to give myself some time to figure everything out and to better plan how it will tie into Stand Up, the LRIG!, I will say this. I am putting the story itself on hiatus until we get to a later point in the main crossover when Iona and Ren will eventually meet for the first time so that the refined ideas can hopefully come around much more smoothly. Until then, this will be farewell on the side-story until a later time.**


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